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DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
DURHAM,N.C. 


- SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Six Modern Devils 


By 
WILBUR R. KEESEY, Pu. Fi: 


v 


138791 


CINCINNATI! JENNINGS AND GRAHAM 
New York: EATON AND MAINS 


Avy 


Copyright, 1909, 
Jennings & Gr 


Bud. 5. . 
a, ee 
SK .Orpor LS 
O15 
S K2bS 
Ose 
Father ant Mother 


This Book is Dedicated in 
Loving Gratitude and 
Filial Affection. 


138791 


CONTENTS 


oD 
FoREWORD,~ - - - 
Bap LITERATURE, - 
Tue Liquor TRAFFIC, - 
THE GaMBLING Hasirt, 
TuHE Gossip Evin, - - 
THE PLEASURE PROBLEM, 


Tur GREED FoR GOLD, - 


EEF 


THe WorRLD—BETTER oR WorsE? 138 


FOREWORD 


HE only apology offered by the 
p author of this little volume is 
‘the universal prevalence of the 
evils at which it strikes. The 
topics were originally treated by the 
author in his own pulpit on consecutive 
Sunday evenings. They provoked such 
interest that the capacity of the church 
was taxed by the congregations. This 
led to the suggestion that they be pub- 
lished in their present form with the 
view of extending their influence and 
usefulness. These sermons are pub- 
lished almost precisely as they were 
preached, and are now sent forth on 
their larger mission. 

The author has gleaned from every 
possible field for the thoughts and facts 
herein presented. But the material and 
spirit were so inwrought into the preach- 
er’s own mind as to make it impossible 

9 


FOREWORD 


always to discriminate. But this is of 
small moment when our supreme aim is 
to exercise the largest possible influence 
for righteousness. 

With this brief introduction the author 
submits the contents of this volume, 
praying that it may prove helpful to all 
who meditate upon it. 

W. BR. K. 


10 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


BAD LITERATURE 


** Till I come, give heed to reading.”’ 
—First Timothy 4: 13. 


N treating the sins of society, I place 
bad literature first because the 


things we read very largely influ- 
ence our lives. 

There is a thousand-fold more reason 
for Paul’s injunction to-day than ever 
before. It admits of a double construc- 
tion. We are to ‘‘give heed to reading’’ 
by availing ourselves of the ever-increas- 
ing opportunities of our age; and also 
by exercising a wise discrimination in 
the selection of our reading matter. 

These minds of ours are fashioned for 
development; and this development 
comes largely through reading. It has 
been an oft disputed question as to 
whether one learns more from books or 
from observation. There is much to be 
said on either side. But certain it is, 


13 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


that our reading wonderfully helps us 
to observe. President Barker said: 
‘“‘Teach me to read, and I can do the 
rest. I will then have a key to every 
door of learning.’’ 

Not only does our reading develop the 
mind, but it exercises a strong influence 
upon our character. Our reading con- 
trols our thinking; and our thinking 
makes us what we are. Hence this 
matter touches the very heart of our 
modern life. Next to the society in 
which we move, what we read forms the 
east of our minds, fixes our principles, 
and determines our habits. 

It is needless for me to remind you 
that ours is a distinctively reading age. 
The newspaper has become a daily ne- 
cessity. No village of any respectable 
size is now complete without its local 
press. Our magazines are of almost as 
ereat variety as our breakfast foods. 
There are books of every description 
upon every subject. Never was there 
a time when it could be so truthfully 
said, ‘‘Of the making of many books 
there is no end.’’ Not only have we this 

14 


BAD LITERATURE 


limitless supply of reading matter, but 
we have also improved facilities for 
using it. Every city has its amply 
equipped public library, or reading 
room, thanks to Mr. Carnegie or some 
local philanthropist. Thus the oppor- 
tunity for general reading is brought 
within the reach of the poorest of our 
people. This makes it possible for the 
boy or girl of limited education to ac- 
quire a good, practical, working knowl- 
edge of affairs. Hence the average lay- 
man of to-day has a larger knowledge 
of things professional than ever before. 

No one can ever estimate the great 
influence of books and papers upon the 
people. They set our moral and spir- 
itual standards, mold our opinions, and 
give direction to our sympathies. This 
is especially true of young people. 
Many of our boys and girls are omniy- 
orous readers. They draw more largely 
upon the public library than any other 
class. Do you realize what this means? 
It may mean weal or woe for the future. 
There is, however, more probability of 
evil here than good. Let us remember 

15 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


that it is just as dangerous to read every 
book and periodical that comes under 
our notice as to make friends with every 
stranger we meet. Frederic Harrison 
tells us there are now over three million 
volumes in our libraries, and that every 
few years the press issues enough new 
ones to make a pyramid equal in size to 
St. Paul’s Cathedral. He also raises the 
question whether or not the printing 
press may be a mixed blessing. 

Do you not see the bearing of all this 
upon to-morrow? The style of litera- 
ture we learn to like when young is the 
style we are apt to like always. If we 
cultivate a taste for that which promotes 
real culture, we will always crave it. 
But if we acquire a senseless, sensational 
habit of reading, it will be difficult for 
us in after years to break away from it. 
We trifle with this matter at our peril. 
Thus the magnitude of our literary bless- 
ings increases our difficulty of discrimi- 
nation. 

- That there is much bad literature in 
circulation, no one will deny. It comes 
from the press by the ton. It is cireu- 

16 


BAD LITERATURE 


lated widely and rapidly. And many 
people read it with a relish. We are 
told on good authority that the circula- 
tion of bad literature is increasing at an 
alarming rate. And surely, if we keep 
our eyes and ears open, we will not be 
inclined to dispute the statement. We 
see evidences upon every railway train, 
every news-stand and bookstore, and 
even some of our public libraries have 
not escaped the infection of this moral 
disease. Now, there are various kinds 
of bad literature. 

There is the grossly immoral. This 
sort is manufactured and circulated in 
secret ways. A gentleman who has 
given special attention to this kind of 
criminality says, that in New York City 
there are no less than two thousand per- 
sons who are directly engaged in the 
production of immoral books and _ pic- 
tures. Other large cities support similar 
disreputable establishments. Occasion- 
ally the authorities ferret out these 
places, seize the plates and machinery, 
and place the proprietors under arrest. 
Often these attempts to destroy this 

2 | WG 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


traffic are vigorous; but they are only 
partially successful, for these men are 
cunning, persistent, and unscrupulous, 
and are soon back in their old haunts 
and employment. This kind of litera- 
ture is usually circulated under cover 
through the mail and express companies. 
Names of young people are secured and 
sample copies are sent. Large and lib- 
eral rewards are offered for securing 
subscribers. Thus these vile publica- 
tions find their way into refined Chris- 
tian homes, where seeds are sown which 
produce a swift and terrible harvest. 
When I think of the blight and ruin, 
I wonder why we do not rise up in right- 
eous wrath and cast the abomination out. 
The great battleground for righteous- 
ness is among the youth. It is toward 
this field that men, cunning and devilish, 
have turned with all the aid of modern 
invention in printing and photography, 
to sow the seeds of an evil harvest. The 
New York Society for the Suppression 
of Vice on one occasion seized and de- 
stroyed a large quantity of salacious lit- 
erature, obscene pictures, and the like. 
18 


BAD LITERATURE 


The list contains such items as 904,440 
Ibs. of obscene pictures and _ photo- 
graphs; 9,387 lbs. of negative plates for 
making obscene photographs; 465 en- 
graved steel and copper plates; 1,033 
woodcuts and electroplates ; 28,050 stere- 
otype plates for printing books; 58 litho- 
graphic stones; and 1,659,941 lbs. of cir- 
culars, catalogues, salacious songs and 
poems. Surely the work of such so- 
cieties should receive our hearty sup- 
port. The man who would poison young 
minds with this vile stuff is equally as 
bad as he who poisons the body, and 
he deserves no better fate. Judge Gross- 
cup, of Chicago, sentencing a number of 
men for this crime, said: ‘‘ You men are 
moral vipers. Your crime is only second 
to that of murder. I would rather a 
rattlesnake should crawl into bed with 
my children than that your literature 
should fall into their hands.’’ 

Then we have the flashy, sensational 
novel. Once it was bound in yellow 
paper. Notso now. It is often put out 
in conventional binding, to find a place 
upon the shelves of reputable book- 


19 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


stores. But the most popular form is 
the cheap pamphlet. Millions of these 
are scattered broadcast over the land. 
The plot of the story is usually laid in 
the shady quarters of a great city, on 
board a merchantman, or on the West- 
ern plains. Every detail is unnatural, 
every situation extravagant. Its stock 
in trade is betrayal, revenge, and mur- 
der. The whole production is coarse and 
revolting. 

Now, the most generous patrons of 
this sensational trash are the boys. Not 
only the boys in the slums, not only the 
boys of neglected, Christless homes; 
but also the boys from respectable, 
Christian homes. Many a parent would 
be paralyzed with fear if they should dis- 
cover what their boys are reading. In 
the city of Boston a dozen boys were 
called up in the criminal court to plead 
to the charges of larceny and burglary. 
They nearly all belonged to respectable 
homes, and all clung to their nickel 
novels in court. As they were called up 
to the bar to plead, they would hastily 
thrust these tattered and well-thumbed 


20 


BAD LITERATURE 


books into their pockets. Every boy had 
a ‘‘blood and thunder’’ novel in his 
pocket, which was doubtless the inspira- 
tion of his crime. Thus these flashy, 
trashy novels are ruining our boys by 
thousands, and their publication should 
be made a penitentiary offense. 

We also have that large class of un- 
true books—books which give untrue 
views of life. They create an artificial 
world whose inhabitants are angels and 
furies. Its chief occupation intrigue and 
love-making. Dishonor and unfaithful- 
ness are made to seem only the least bit 
wrong. Villains and their villainy are 
apologized for so eloquently as to al- 
most transform them. 

Now, the most devoted readers of this 
style of literature are young women. 
Many of our girls derive their impres- 
sions of the world and of human life 
from these highly colored and false pic- 
tures. These books abound in what is 
known as ‘‘realism.’? That is, a por- 
trayal of life as it is. It is indeed sig- 
nificant that always the dark, low, 
vicious side of life is presented. If we 

21 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


must have ‘‘realism,’’ let us have it all; 
the bright side, as well as the dark side 
of life; the high and virtuous as well as 
the low and vicious. If there are depths 
of sin to which men may fall, there are 
also infinite heights of righteousness to 
which they may rise. 

Aside from the loose and vague no- 
tions of morality which it inspires, this 
sort of literature causes many young 
women to enter upon married life with 
ideas so false and theories so absurd 
that nothing but disappointment and un- 
happiness can follow. Instead of the 
impossible, self-sacrificing heroes of 
their dreams, these young women awake 
to find themselves married only to men 
—common, ordinary men. It is not long 
before both parties to the disappointing 
union are seeking some means of escape. 
Hence domestic infelicity, social scandal, 
and the divorce court. It is highly prob- 
able that all other causes combined are 
not so prolific of divorce as the fact that 
a certain class of women are brought up 
on sentimental novels. Girls who have 
nothing to do but to read these disgust- 


22 


BAD LITERATURE 


ing tales are bound to complicate the 
social problems. Here, of course, legis- 
lation is impossible, and the evil must 
be overcome by a strong and vigorous 
campaign of education. 

Last, but by no means least, are the 
books which break down faith. It has 
become customary, when one wishes to 
popularize some fad, for him to weave 
it into a story and send it forth to the 
world. Hence we have our historical, 
industrial, political, and religious novels. 
Of these, the religious novel is the most 
subtle and dangerous. Here malignant 
attacks upon the Bible and religion are 
woven into fascinating chapters. Here 
sin is condoned and disreputable char- 
acters are glossed over. So clever are 
many of these books that they are read 
by sincere Christians. So ingeniously 
has the poison been disguised that its 
readers do not realize they are reading 
assaults upon their faith. But always 
such books leave feelings of dissatisfac- 
tion and unrest. Questions arise which 
never troubled the reader before: ‘‘Do 
not Churches make too much of doc- 


23 


STIX MODERN DEVILS 


trine and lay too little stress on beauti- 
ful living?’’ ‘‘Isn’t the atonement and 
conversion and the higher life altogether 
too mystical and of much less importance 
than our old-fashioned preachers would 
have us believe?’’ ‘‘Are not the moral 
characters of this book infinitely better 
than many who have professed to be 
saved in the orthodox way?’’ And so 
the poison of unbelief does its deadly 
work. A man thrust his hand into a 
hen’s nest, and he felt the prick of a 
pin. Soon the finger began to swell, 
then his arm, then his body. He had 
been bitten by a young rattlesnake, so 
small that its rattles had not yet de- 
veloped. This feebly illustrates the 
danger from novels of high literary 
merit, but which strike at the Christian’s 
faith. Between the leaves of such a 
book are serpents coiled—serpents more 
deadly than the most poisonous reptiles 
of the jungle. Much of to-day’s litera- 
ture pays honor to Christianity only to 
make it cover and hide its evil nature. 
It draws near with a kiss only that it 
might betray. * * * These things 


24 


BAD LITERATURE 


being true, it is better to know the pur- 
pose of a book before reading it. The 
Trishman’s rule for distinguishing be- 
tween mushrooms and toadstools is too 
expensive here. 

Now, all this pernicious literature 
must be shunned. Yea, more, it must 
be warred against. No invective is too 
strong; no measure is too severe. But 
what shall be the method of our war- 
fare? I answer, substitution. 

There is as much good literature as 
there is bad; and it is just as cheap 
and available. This we must put into 
the hands of our young people before 
they cultivate an appetite for the bad 
and vicious. Good literature must be 
presented so attractively and persist- 
ently, and yet so unobtrusively, that it 
will command attention. And when this 
is accomplished the day is won. When 
I go into a home [I instinctively look for 
the library or reading table. But alas, 
how few homes are thus equipped! 
Many young people are reading cheap, 
trashy story papers because their par- 
ents are too economical or too negligent 


25 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


to provide good literature for the home. 
This lack of good home reading lies at 
the bottom of many other evils with 
which we have to contend. No public 
library or reading room can atone for 
this lack of good home reading. 

Well, if substitution is our method, 
what shall we substitute? What shall 
we read? My answer to this question 
must necessarily be merely suggestive. 
If I were to outline a course of reading, 
I would say, first of all, read history. 
Does any one complain that this is dry? 
Then he has never read history. No 
fiction was ever so strong, so romantic, 
or dramatic, so thrilling, or so fascinat- 
ing as the story of the rise and fall of 
nations. Read science. Does some one 
eall this dull? Why, the earth and the 
air overflow with wonder and interest. 
Read biography. No class of literature 
is more attractive or exerts a better in- 
fluence upon the reader. Here most 
people find their ideals. The life of 
Washington inspired Lincoln, and that 
of Lincoln has inspired thousands more. 
Read books of travel. Next to the pleas- 


26 


BAD LITERATURE 


ure and profit of a personal visit to dis- 
tant lands is that of seeing them through 
the eyes of a keen observer, who is 
able to describe in graphic style what 
he beholds. Don’t forget the poets. 
Every library should have a _ poet’s 
corner. Poetry should be read for the 
nobility and spirituality of its senti- 
ments. Yes, by all means, read some 
fiction. But let it be of the better type: 
In the selection of no class of books 
should greater caution be observed. In 
this field there are hundreds of stories 
full of information and _ inspiration. 
Who can fail to catch new views of duty 
from the pages of Hugo’s ‘‘Les Mis- 
erables?’’?’ Helen Hunt Jackson’s ‘‘Ra- 
mona’’ is a sermon. George Eliot’s 
‘‘Romola’’ is almost above criticism. 
What can excel the pathos of ‘‘ Beside 
the Bonnie Brier Bush?’’ And how up- 
lifting such stories as ‘‘Sky Pilot’’ and 
**Black Rock!”’ 

In reading magazines, caution must be 
exercised. The magazine has become a 
large factor in our reading. But it 
ranges from the veriest trash of fiction 


27 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


to the stately and valuable review. The 
best magazines are veritable mines of 
information and condensed literature. 
But the articles are only fragmentary, 
and should not supplant the reading of 
books. As to newspapers, they must be 
read to keep abreast of the times, but 
not exhaustively. There is a great temp- 
tation to waste time over a newspaper. 
Many people make a waste-basket of the 
mind, filling it with society gossip, lit- 
erary rubbish, and the details of crime. 
Thirty minutes a day is enough to de- 
vote to the daily paper. 

But apart from and above all other 
classes of literature is The Book—the 
Holy Bible. It is the one Book that 
leads forth the richest and deepest and 
sweetest things ina man’s nature. Read 
all other books—philosophy, poetry, his- 
tory, fiction; but if you would refine the 
judgment, wing the imagination, fertil- 
ize the reason, and attain unto the finest 
womanhood and sturdiest manhood, read 
this Book. Read it reverently, thought- 
fully, prayerfully. The Book Daniel 
Webster placed under his pillow when 


28 


BAD LITERATURE 


dying should be read by all while living. 
He who studiously follows this Book will 
not be very much in danger of going 
astray in his reading. 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


“Woe unto him that giveth his neighbor drink, 
that putteth thy bottle to him, and maketh him 
drunken also.’’—Habakkuk 2: 15. 


HE times in which we live are 
distinguished for their growing 
devotion to the causes of re- 


form and humanity. Men are 
asking of public institutions why they 
exist, and what they contribute to the 
public good; indeed, we are demanding 
some contribution of good as the price 
of existence. Hence there is coming to 
be less and less room in this same pro- 
gressive world for the new reforming 
spirit and the old drunkard factory. 
On the one hand towers a vast, firmly 
built, richly endowed iniquity for the de- 
bauching of mankind; on the other hand, 
there is the new religious and humani- 
tarian spirit pledged to making the 

30 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


world sweet and clean and right. You 
can readily see that these two opposing 
forces can not long exist together. 
Which will triumph? Does the saloon 
tend to improve the conditions of 
life? Does it reduce the burdens 
and increase the comforts of society? 
Does it make brighter homes, happier 
wives, better spread tables, fuller 
pocketbooks, sweeter morals, purer 
laws, and better government? Let him 
who can, answer in the affirmative. In- 
deed, every voice of reason, conscience, 
observation, experience, and good citi- 
zenship cries out, ‘‘No.’’ The liquor 
traffic is the mightiest foe that ever 
warred against society and religion. It 
is the very center of that horrible in- 
ferno that welters at the bottom of civ- 
ilized society. 

The liquor traffic is a gigantic thing, 
and we do well to recognize its power. 
The enormous proportions of this, the 
greatest of all the American trusts, are 
evident in the following facts: The beer- 
drinkers of the United States consume 
thirty-three and one-half millions of 


31 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


barrels of beer every year. The capital 
invested in the manufacture of all kinds 
of liquors is three hundred million dol- 
lars. The wholesale value of the product 
each year is three hundred and twenty- 
seven million dollars. The internal rev- 
enue tax amounts to one hundred and 
twelve million dollars. The receipts for 
the State and local licenses are nearly 
twenty-five millions of dollars. The 
amount spent by the people annually — 
for liquor is more than one billion dol- 
lars. Including bar-tenders, there are 
about seven hundred thousand liquor 
dealers in our country. The wages paid 
to employees will reach thirty-six mil- 
lion dollars a year. 

Thus you see this traffic is a veritable 
Gibraltar of finance. It is not a political 
question, nor a social question, nor a 
moral question half so much as it is a 
commercial question. The saloon is in 
politics because it is in commerce. Its 
roots run down to the very bottom of 
our national business life. It is enor- 
mously profitable, building up colossal 
fortunes. Hence, it fights for its life 


32 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


and liberty with desperation. Add to 
the great wealth of this traffic its polit- 
ical power, its ability to frame party 
platforms and dictate party principles, 
and you get some conception of its mag- 
nitude. 

You see, this is no dress-parade affair 
we have on our hands. It is war—war 
to the knife, and the knife to the hilt. 
Here is a combination of dollars and 
deviltry which is well-nigh overwhelm- 
ing. 

Now I wish to present an indictment, 
containing five separate counts, against 
the American saloon. 

First of all, the saloon is the cause 
of a large percentage of disease. In- 
toxicants are an irritant poison in the 
stomach. 

Much has been said about alcohol as 
a food. There is no greater delusion. 
The best of authorities tell us that the 
stimulating action which alcohol appears 
to exert on the physical functions is 
only a paralytic action. This belief that 
alcohol gives strength to the weary is | 
particularly dangerous to that class of 

3 33 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


people whose income is already insuffi- 
cient to procure subsistence, and who are 
misled by this error into spending a 
large part of their earnings for alcoholic 
drinks instead of purchasing wholesome 
food, which alone can give them strength 
for their work. A German chemist says: 
‘‘T have proved with mathematical ac- 
curacy that the amount of nourishment 
contained in the flour you can take up 
on the point of a knife is more than that 
contained in eight quarts of the best 
Bavarian beer. * * * In short, in 
attempting to get food out of beer, a 
man has to strain one hundred and 
twenty gallons of swill through his dis- 
gusted stomach to catch one loaf of 
bread.’’ If this be true, then the alcohol- 
food notion is a vain delusion. 

Now, notice the relation of drink to 
disease. A few years ago the Toledo 
Blade made a searching investigation of 
the beer question, and presented the 
opinions of leading physicians. With- 
out exception these medical men declared 
that the drinking habit was especially 
fruitful in diseases of the liver and kid- 

34 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


neys, that it lowers the vital forces, 
making man susceptible to disease. One 
physician said that in his own practice 
and observation forty-nine out of fifty 
eases of Bright’s disease were cases of 
beer drinkers. The evidence gathered 
during this investigation was summed 
up in the following editorial: ‘‘The in- 
dictment they (the physicians) of one 
accord present against beer-drinking is 
simply terrible. The fearful devil-fish, 
erushing the fisherman in its long, wind- 
ing arms and sucking his life-blood from 
his mangled body, is not so frightful an 
assailant as this insidious enemy, which 
fastens itself upon its victim and daily 
becomes more and more the wretched 
man’s master, clogging up his liver, rot- 
ting his kidneys, decaying the heart and 
arteries, stupefying and starving the 
brain, choking the lungs and bronchia, 
loading the body down with dropsical 
fluids and unwholesome fat, fastening 
upon him rheumatism, erysipelas, and 
all manner of painful and disgusting 
diseases, and finally dragging him down 
to the grave at a time when other men 


30 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


are in their prime of mental and bodily 
vigor. Every one of them bears testi- 
mony to the fact that no man ean drink 
beer without bad physical results—that 
it is an injury to any one who uses it 
in any quantity.’’ 

Side by side with this evidence of 
medical science let us place the testi- 
mony of life insurance companies. Mil- 
waukee is famous for its beer products. 
This beer is advertised as good for 
health and conducive to longevity. But 
Milwaukee is also the headquarters of 
the Northwestern Life Insurance Com- 
pany, established about fifty years ago. 
It is regarded as one of the strongest 
companies, wide-awake and shrewd in its 
business management. The greater part 
of the directors are wealthy business 
men of the city of Milwaukee. Yet in 
spite of the health-giving qualities of 
lager beer, this company will not grant 
a policy to a brewer or any of his em- 
ployees. And why? Are these directors 
““temperance cranks?’’ No. They are 
hard-headed business men, and statistics 
show that the insurance business has 


36 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


been injured by the shortened lives of 
beer-drinkers. The British Institute of 
Actuaries made an investigation cover- 
ing a period of sixty-one years, and in- 
cluding an inquiry into the cases of one 
hundred and twenty-five thousand per- 
sons. They found total abstainers to be 
superior to all others throughout the en- 
tire working years of life; that is, from 
twenty to seventy years. These inter- 
esting facts were discovered: Between 
twenty and thirty years of age, the 
deaths among the drinkers was ten per 
cent more than among total abstainers; 
between thirty and forty, it was sixty- 
eight per cent more; between forty and 
fifty, it was seventy-four per cent more; 
between fifty and sixty, it was forty-two 
per cent more; and between sixty and 
seventy, it was nineteen per cent more. 
Thus you see that alcohol cuts off more 
men who are in the heydey of health 
than at any other period. What this 
means in the way of retarding the 
world’s progress you may estimate. I 
know that data relative to the effects of 
alcohol upon the human system are 


37 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


common and may be more or less preju- 
diced. But here the conclusions are not 
tinctured by sentiment or bigotry. Hard 
cash considerations are these, and they 
are valuable as relative statistics. 

The final result of these investigations 
will doubtless be the issue of a new form 
of policy, offering a much smaller rate 
of premium to the total abstainer. 

Another remarkable fact has devel- 
oped from the insurance investigations 
in New York City. It has been found 
that the metropolitan Hebrew is, on the 
average, the most long-lived of all the 
varied classes of inhabitants, while the 
New York Irishman is beginning to rank 
the shortest-lived. An insurance author- 
ity states that the American Hebrew is 
at least a fifteen per cent better risk than 
any other type of citizen. And why? 
Because he abstains from the use of 
liquor. 

The second count in this indictment is 
that the saloon inspires immorality. It 
is the training school of profanity, vul- 
garity, and obscenity. It invariably has 
a gambling annex. It is frequently com- 


38 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


bined with a brothel; indeed, as twin cor- 
ruptors they stand or fall together. 
Concerning the social vices we have 
been too prudishly modest. At every 
public reference to them the refined and 
eultured have eried, ‘‘Hush! Hush!’’ 
until licentiousness has well-nigh under- 
mined our social life. The better classes 
are ignorant of this, because it is a 
malady that moves in silence and preys 
on its victims in the darkness of the 
night. It has no plain advertisements 
in the newspapers, posts no flaming pos- 
ters, is surrounded by no bands of music. 
Indeed, its secrecy is its security. It, 
therefore, becomes the duty of teachers 
and preachers to children and parents 
to lift the curtain of a false delicacy 
and expose this evil. Listen to the words 
of the wise man: ‘‘Say unto wisdom, 
Thou art my sister, and call understand- 
ing thy kinswoman: that they may keep 
thee from the strange woman, from the 
stranger that flattereth with her words. 
For at the window of my house I looked 
through my casement, and beheld among 
the simple ones; I discerned among the 


39 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


youths a young man void of understand- 
ing, passing through the street near her 
corner; and he went the way to her 
house in the twilight, in the evening, in 
the black and dark of night; and, behold, 
there met him a woman with the attire 
of a harlot, and subtle of heart. * * * 
So she caught him, and kissed him, and 
with an impudent face said unto him: 
‘T have peace offerings with me; this day 
I have paid my vows. Therefore come 
I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek 
thy face, and I have found thee. I have 
decked my bed with coverings of tap- 
estry, with carved works, with fine linen 
of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with 
myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let 
us take our fill of love until the morning.’ 
* * * With her fair speech she caus- 
eth him to yield, with the flattering of 
her lips she forced him. He goeth forth 
after her straightway, as an ox goeth 
to the slaughter, or as a fool to the cor- 
rection of the stocks; till a dart strike 
through his liver; as a bird hasteth to 
the snare, and knoweth not that it is for 
his life.’’ 


40 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


But you inquire, What has all this to 
do with the licensed liquor saloon? I 
answer, very much. It is the natural ef- 
fect of the goods sold in the saloon to 
excite and inflame every lust and pas- 
sion that degrades and brutalizes human- 
ity. Behind every brothel is the saloon. 
Behind every fallen woman is drink. 
You can not hurt the brothel without 
hurting the saloon. Some time ago the 
Wine and Spirit Gazette made this frank 
confession: The Phillips law, passed by 
the Legislature of Ohio, forbidding the 
sale of liquor in houses of ill-fame, went 
into effect on May 25th. The importers 
of champagne in this city are beginning 
to feel the loss of business in Ohio. 
Piper Heidsieck representatives claim 
that the enforcement of the law in the 
big cities of Ohio will cost them forty 
thousand dollars annually; Munn Com- 
pany representatives estimate their loss 
at thirty thousand; importers of Pomery 
See claim they will lose sixty thousand; 
and the other importers will suffer pro- 
portionate losses. The local brewers also 
feel the effects of the law, as many of the 

41 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


houses in Cincinnati and Cleveland sold 
large quantities of beer.’’ Does this not 
sufficiently reveal the sensitive nerves of 
kinship between the liquor traffic and 
prostitution ? 

And what shall I say of the wine- 
rooms in vogue everywhere among sa- 
loons? These wine-rooms and ‘‘ladies’ 
entrance’’ are for the accommodation of 
women patrons, who are increasing in 
number every year. Bishop Leighton 
Coleman says there is an appalling 
growth of drunkenness among women. 
Mrs. John A. Logan says: ‘‘I do not 
like to admit that any woman ever in- 
dulged in such lamentable habits, but I 
must succumb to the indubitable evi- 
dence that is before us continually, and 
can only bow my head for very shame 
for my sex, and pray, Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do.”’ 

Ordinances have been passed in many 
of our large cities prohibiting wine- 
rooms, but saloon men have opposed 
their enforcement, contending that wo- 
men have as much right to drink as men. 
This is indeed true. But this habit cul- 


42 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


tivates a taste for convivial companion- 
ship and a lowering of the moral stand- 
ing among women. Time was when no 
young man would dare to invite a young 
woman to accompany him to a beer gar- 
den or saloon, for it would have been 
considered an insult. But conditions 
have changed, and now saloons are pat- 
ronized by women both with and without 
escort. 

And what of our saloon-keepers as a 
class? They are of the lowest character. 
Of course, there are exceptions; and IL 
am sorry for these, as I am for every 
good man who goes in bad company. But 
as a class they are impure, profane, ir- 
religious, vulgar, and criminal; and their 
saloons are like them. Here one meets 
with the world’s filthiest characters, 
filthiest pictures, and filthiest conversa- 
tion. It is the stem about which clusters 
all the festering vices of the community. 
Speaking of the morals of the saloon, 
the following poem is quite suggestive: 

** 4 bar to heaven, a door to hell; 
Whoever named it, named it well. 


A bar to manliness and wealth; 
A door to want and broken health. 
43 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


A bar to honor, pride and fame; 

A door to sin and grief and shame. 
A bar to hope, a bar to prayer; 

A door to darkness and despair. 

A bar to honored, useful life ; 

A door to brawling, senseless strife. 
A bar to all that’s true and brave ; 
A door to every drunkard’s grave. 
A bar to joys that home imparts ; 
A door to tears and aching hearts. 
A bar to heaven, a door to hell; 
Whoever named it, named it well.’’ 

Another count in our indictment 
against the saloon is that it pauperizes 
labor. To settle the liquor question 
would be a long step toward settlement 
of the labor question. We are told that 
the saloon is a necessity. Let us see if 
this be true. 

Tf the more than a billion dollars annu- 
ally spent for liquor, and the greater 
part of it by laboring men, were to go 
next year for boots and shoes, clothing, 
food, books, magazines, pictures, and 
education, there would be such a revival 
of business as we have never seen. Over- 
production would be an impossibility, 
wages would advance, and every class of 

44 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


society would be benefited. Said Arch- 
bishop Ireland in addressing the Catho- 
lice people of America: ‘‘Compute in 
any city the sum of money spent by 
Irishmen in Irish saloons and you will 
be affrighted. In one Western city 
there are fifteen hundred saloons kept 
by Irishmen. Allow the average receipts 
of each saloon to be fifteen dollars a day, 
and you have an annual expenditure for 
liquor by the Irish of that city of eight 
million two hundred and twelve thousand 
five hundred dollars. Add to the value 
of the time lost by drink, of the wages 
unearned because men visit saloons, and 
twelve million dollars per annum is not 
too high a figure to represent the annual 
losses to the Irish of one city. This 
answers the question why we are poor. 
It is idle talk to advise the people to se- 
cure homes of their own, to leave the 
crowded cities, to gain by labor and econ- 
omy a competence for themselves and 
their families; we must lay the ax at the 
root of the evil, first teaching them to 
shun the saloon which is swallowing up 
their earnings.”’ 


45 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Mr. Joseph Medill, a distinguished 
journalist, made the following statement 
to a Congressional committee of labor 
and education: ‘‘I have rarely known a 
steady, sober, industrious man, who 
saved his surplus earnings and pru- 
dently invested them, but attained inde- 
pendence before old age; and I have 
never known a workman, no matter what 
his wages, who freely indulged his appe- 
tate for liquor that ever made headway. 
And the money thus thrown away on 
liquor by wage-workers in the last ten 
years would have provided each family 
a home free of rent, thereby emancipat- 
ing all of them from servitude to land- 
lords. If invested in railroad stocks and 
bonds, it would have transferred the 
ownership of every single mile of rail- 
way in the United States to the laboring 
classes who squander their wages on 
drink. The wage-workers can not sup- 
port in idleness three quarters of a mil- 
lion of saloon men and their families, and 
hope to prosper themselves.’’ This is a 
most significant statement. 

Doubtless nine-tenths, if not ninety- 


46 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


nine one-hundredths, of the actual desti- 
tution among the poor is to be traced 
directly or indirectly to habits of drink. 
It is not the drunkard himself who pays 
the heaviest penalty for his intemper- 
ance. It is too often the helpless wife 
and neglected children who bear the bur- 
den. There is scarcely a city or town 
from which all abject poverty would not 
practically disappear if the vice of 
drunkenness could be banished: The 
Poorhouse Commissioner of Hennepin 
County, Minnesota, says that eight out 
of every ten inmates are forced there 
through drink. The commissioner of the 
Minneapolis Work-house says that sev- 
enty-one per cent of the inmates are 
brought there by drink. * * * Thus 
you can readily see that no amount of 
legislation, and no power of trade unions 
or labor combinations, can be of any real 
help to the laborer who spends his money 
in the saloon. And every one of us who, 
by influence or vote, or by our neglect 
or indifference, helps to establish or 
maintain the liquor saloon in the com- 
munity, is thus contributing to the insti- 


47 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


tution which robs and debauches the 
toilers of our land. 

Furthermore, the saloon breeds law- 
lessness and crime. And this by neces- 
sity, from the very conditions of its ex- 
istence. It is the natural nest for out- 
laws who resist the civilization of the 
twentieth century. It is the runway for 
criminals. The housewife knows where 
to set her trap for the mice. The hunter 
knows where to look for his game. And 
so the authorities of our cities know 
where to look for criminals. If a man 
were to commit some crime in New York 
and then escape to Chicago, the police of 
New York would immediately telegraph 
his description to the police of Chicago, 
with orders to arrest him. What places, 
think you, the Chicago police would 
watch for their game? Surely not the 
churches, schools, or libraries. Certainly 
it would be the saloons and their kindred 
institutions. And why? Because here 
is the natural runway for criminals. 

Why, the saloon is itself at heart an 
outlaw; it must be an outlaw in order to 
live. If the saloon-keeper should obey 


48 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


all the liquor laws, he would soon be com- 
pelled to close up his business. He must 
devise some means for reimbursing him- 
self for the large license fee. So he sells 
to minors and drunkards and blacklisted 
men; he keeps open all night and all day 
Sunday. Indeed, I would not ask for 
much better prohibition, if our civic au- 
thorities would rigidly enforce the liquor 
laws. If the saloons are not outlaws, 
why do they so stubbornly resist every 
ordinance for the removal of screens and 
partitions? Surely, there must be some- 
thing that will not bear the light of day. 
Yes, the saloon is at heart a criminal, 
and the only effective way to deal with it 
is to take it for a criminal and deal with 
it as a criminal. Nothing but the hard 
fist of the Ten Commandments, with ihe 
police power of the city and nation be- 
hind it, can successfully deal with such 
an institution. 

Warden Wolfer, of the Minnesota 
State’s prison, in his report for the two 
years ending July 31, 1904, says, that of 
the five hundred and eighteen prisoners, 
three hundred and nineteen were mod- 


4 49 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


erate drinkers, two hundred and thirty- 
four were heavy drinkers, and only 
twenty-eight were total abstainers. 
Judge Wofford, of the Kansas City 
courts, says: ‘‘Four-fifths of the time 
of this court is taken up with crimes 
caused by whisky. The greatest evil 
that now affects this country is the 
abuse of whisky. Every day men are 
swimming to the penitentiary through 
whisky. ’’ 

An ex-judge of a town of six thou- 
sand people, and having fourteen sa- 
loons, says that in the eight years of his 
administration with about two hundred 
and fifty cases a year, only eight cases 
could not be traced to the saloon. Here 
is the opinion of Governor Hanly, of 
Indiana, who declared he would refuse 
to appoint to office any man addicted to 
drink. He says: ‘‘The saloon becomes 
an example of law-breaking in almost 
every community, and the object lesson 
is offered to many of those who are 
ready pupils in crime. The saloon there- 
by becomes in thousands of instances an 
institution from which are quickly grad- 


50 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


uated those whose names crowd the 
dockets of our criminal courts, nor has 
the saloon hesitated to inject itself with 
increasing aggressiveness into political 
affairs, and the growing participation of 
the saloon and the evident results of this 
activity in primaries and elections is a 
feature of our politics which challenges 
attention.’’ 

This leads us to the final count in our 
indictment, namely, that the saloon cor- 
rupts our politics. In this country every 
question of serious interest to the people 
becomes a political question. You can 
not, therefore, confine the saloon ques- 
tion to the region of moral suasion. We 
have seen that every species of vice, deg- 
radation, and crime grows out of the 
saloon. We have made all these crimes 
the subject of political consideration and 
punishment. But this appears absurd 
if we do not include the mother of crime. 
The saloon has invaded polities; and we 
must invade politics also, if we hope to 
reach and deal with this evil. It stuffs 
ballot boxes, elects its tools to office, buys 
legislation and protection, and in every 


ol 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


way disgraces the fair name of American 
political life. Almost every campaign 
has come to be more or less a ‘‘ beer cam- 
paign,’’ and thus the saloon has come to 
be a controlling element in polities, city, 
county, state, and nation. 

In view of these facts, it becomes the 
mission of every loyal American to de- 
stroy the saloon in defense of our na- 
tional life and honor. This government 
has a right to destroy any business that 
threatens its life, or that debauches the 
character of its subjects. 

Consequently this whole question is 
rightfully a political question. The sa- 
loon thrusts its filthy hand into polities 
on every occasion. Between rival candi- 
dates it holds the balance of power, and 
despises other elements in political life. 
A bar-keeper in Richmond, Va., hear- 
ing some talk of a reform movement, 
laughed it to scorn, and said, ‘‘ Any bar- 
room in Richmond is a bigger man in 
politics than all the churches in Rich- 
mond put together.’’ I fear this is only 
too true, not only in Richmond, but 
everywhere. And why? Because the 


52 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


saloon element cares nothing for party. 
It supports only those who support it. 
It presents a solid front and no division. 
And this is the lesson we must learn 
from the enemy. We must get together 
and stand together. For this purpose 
the Anti-Saloon League affords us a 
splendid basis for co-operation, and its 
magnificent success up to date shows the 
wisdom of the plan. The great increase 
in the number of independent voters is 
encouraging. When a candidate for 
President is given two hundred thou- 
sand majority by the people of a cer- 
tain State, while the candidate of the 
same party for governor of that same 
State is defeated by three thousand ma- 
jority, it is time to believe that the in- 
dependent voter has come to stay. What 
we need above everything else is that the 
men who love their country more than 
the spoils of office, who think more of 
principle than of party, shall array 
themselves together on some broad plat- 
form of righteousness and smite the 
liquor traffic to its death. 

Here, then, is our case against this 


53 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


enemy of all public good. It causes dis- 
ease, inspires immorality, pauperizes 
labor, breeds lawlessness and crime, 
and corrupts polities. 

Now, the great question is, What are 
we going to do about it? There are 
those who tell us we have no business 
to do anything about it. Are they cor- 
rect? George W. Bain says: ‘‘There is 
not a jewel glittering from the hand of 
a rumseller’s wife or children that did 
not cost jewels of manhood from the 
homes of the people.’’ If this be true, 
then every teacher and preacher and 
parent has a right to do something 
about it. 

A saloon-keeper, asked what he 
thought a Christian was, replied, ‘‘One 
who says his prayers, and minds his 
own business.’’?’ Of course he meant 
that the Christian should not interfere 
with the liquor interests. But the Serip- 
tural conception of a Christian is quite 
different. Paul says he is a soldier—a 
fighter. His life is one of warfare. 
This warfare is offensive as well as de- 
fensive. Our contest is with the enemies 


54 


THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC 


of men. Surely this means the saloon 
and kindred evils. Therefore, the Chris- 
tian has no right to be content with 
“‘saying his prayers’’ while any bare- 
faced iniquity proposes to destroy the 
lives and souls of men. If a rum-shop 
exists within striking distance of him, 
it is the Christian’s business to strike 
it. If it is the duty of the Church to 
save the drunkard, it is much more her 
duty to stop drunkard making. If it 
is the duty of the Church to lift up the 
fallen, it is much more her duty to keep 
men from falling. If it is the duty of 
the Church to support civil government, 
it is much more her duty to see that 
she has a clean and honest civil govern- 
ment to support. If it is the duty of 
the Church to pray for men in authority, 
it is much more her duty to see that 
she has decent men in authority to pray 
for. If it is the duty of the Church to 
submit to the powers that be, it is much 
more her duty to see that the powers 
that be are ordained of God, not of the 
devil. You see, the Christian is not done 
minding his business when he has fin- 


55 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


ished his prayers. God means that His 
Church shall be a terror to evil-doers 
and evil institutions. And unless we 
make it so, we fail to do our full duty. 


56 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


**For even when we were with you, this we 
commanded you, that if any would not work, 
neither should he eat.’’ 

—Second Thessalonians 3: 10. 


O one entertains a doubt that 
gambling has become one of 
our national curses. And yet 
here is a much neglected topie. 

Why is not gambling more frequently 
considered and more openly condemned ? 
Certainly not because we favor or con- 
done it. The fact is, we are as unawak- 
ened to this evil as our great-grand- 
fathers were to the evils of drunkenness 
and lust. But the time has come to ring 
the death-knell of this evil from every 
pulpit, platform, and press. This will 
surely require strength and courage, for 
this evil, like many others, has fortified 
itself behind great wealth and vast polit- 
ical influence. Many years ago Mr. 


57 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


James Greenwood declared that London 
was afflicted with ‘‘seven curses.’’ They 
were neglected children, professional 
thieves, professional beggars, fallen 
women, drunkenness, gambling, and 
waste of charity. Of gambling, he said, 
‘It causes, perhaps, more ruin and ir- 
reparable dismay than any other two 
of London’s eurses.’’? While I could not 
give unqualified endorsement to this 
statement, I do believe that the curse 
of gambling is second only to that of the 
saloon. 

The spirit of gambling is growing and 
prevails among all classes of society. 
There are some streets in our large 
cities almost impassable when the re- 
sult of some race, prize-fight, baseball or 
football game is expected. Much space 
and prominence is given by our newspa- 
pers to ‘‘sporting notes.’’? And why such 
crowds, so much space and prominence? 
I answer, gambling! Very few of our 
daily papers have the strength to resist 
the vile contagion. But the papers de- 
vote so much space to ‘‘sporting news’’ 
because the people want it; and the 

58 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


people want it because they are gam- 
bling on the results of these contests. 

As to the results of gambling, it would 
be simply impossible to exaggerate them. 
Most appropriately, indeed, are the re- 
sorts of gamblers called ‘‘gambling 
hells,’? for gambling, like drunkenness, 
becomes finally an overpowering appe- 
tite which the victim is powerless to re- 
sist. Occasionally the newspapers give 
us a glance at the deviltry and anguish 
of gambling in the account of some poor 
fellow who has betrayed his trust. Ruin, 
despair, suicide! These are the three 
swift steps by which many a gambler 
passes to his doom. 

What, now, is gambling? Webster 
says: ‘‘To gamble is to play a game 
for money or other stake.’’ In other 
words, gambling is an attempt to get 
something for nothing. The question 
has been raised, Is gambling wrong? 
Must we absolutely condemn it? There 
are many sophisms in the air. Young 
men are frequently told that one may 
do what he likes with his own. A 
preacher once told the students at Ox- 


59 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


ford that gambling was all right ‘‘if you 
only bet small amounts.’’ But what in 
the name of reason has the amount to 
do with it? You may with equal reason 
say, ‘‘It is all right to murder, if you 
only kill a few people.’’ ‘‘It is all right 
to steal, if you only take small sums.”’ 
There is a principle here to be kept in 
mind. Here is a case of sophism. Prof. 
Kirby, of the Catholic University of 
America, recently said: ‘‘Gambling is 
not simply a game of chance, for chance 
is present in most business transactions. 
Gambling is not merely the desire for 
gain. It is not merely a means of ex- 
citement. The constitutional gambler is 
the man who desires only gain at play 
as a means to enable him to play again. 
It may seem strange for me to say so 
as a professor of ethics, but I have 
never been able to find a reason that 
will permit me to say gambling is wrong. 
* * * Properly done, gambling is not 
a dissipation, but a recreation.’?’ Away 
with such trifling. Gambling is either 
right or wrong. Which shall we say? 
Such sophistic statements as those of 


60 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


Prof. Kirby remind me of the old story 
of the farmer and his wife who sat down 
together to read the latest news from the 
village paper. The old gentleman began 
with ‘‘Fatal accidents.’? ‘‘Was any- 
body killed?’’ asked the listening wife. 
“‘T don’t know,’’ said the husband; 
‘‘wait till I read on farther,’’ and so he 
slowly toiled through the story. It was 
the account of a runaway. The man in 
the case ‘‘had every bone in his body 
broken,’’? and the woman ‘‘barely sur- 
vived to be carried to the nearest 
house.’’ Again the impatient wife in- 
quired, ‘‘But what I want to know is, 
Was anybody killed?’’ ‘‘Well,’’ slowly 
responded the old farmer, ‘‘ Well, Maria, 
that is one thing that it don’t tell.’’ 
So the Bible does not specifically for- 
bid gambling, but it does forbid the spirit 
that leads up to it and the passions that 
result from it. Consequently, every 
thoughtful, fair-minded man will agree 
that gambling is positively and abso- 
lutely wrong. And for two reasons. 
First, it promotes gain without merit. 
It rewards those who do not deserve it. 


61 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


The wholesome law of life is that man 
shall eat his bread in the sweat of his 
face. And where that law is systemat- 
ically violated it is a curse to all con- 
cerned. St. Paul says that every man 
should ‘‘labor, working with his hands 
the thing that is good, that he may have 
whereof to give to him that hath need.”’ 
This does not necessarily mean manual 
labor in every case. Indeed, a man may 
work much more laboriously for the 
public good with his brain. But it does 
mean that, either with brawn or brain, 
every man ought to work for the public 
good. St. Paul even went so far as to 
say, ‘‘If any man will not work, neither 
let him eat.’’ In short, starve him to 
it. What an outery there would be if 
the pulpits of the land should utter so 
revolutionary a sentiment! But St. Paul 
utters it. And I venture to say that 
some day this doctrine will be embodied 
in our legislation. In many places now 
every arrested vagrant must do service 
on the public works; and some day the 
most despised outcast of society will be 
the immoral wretch who does nothing 


62 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


with brain or brawn to deserve the bread 
he eats. And this whether he is rich or 
poor. Welcome the day when the old 
Jewish custom of teaching every boy a 
trade shall be restored! The second 
German emperor was a first-class jew- 
eler. Queen Victoria taught all her 
daughters to work. So every man and 
woman should be able ‘‘to work with 
their hands the thing that is good.’’ But 
gambling is contrary to all this. It gives 
to him who has not toiled and who does 
not deserve. Thus it directly obstructs 
the progress of Christian civilization. 
It destroys the vital principles of in- 
dustry and thrift. Here is the first fatal 
objection to gambling. 

And the second is like unto it. Gam- 
bling promotes one man’s gain through 
another’s loss. It is, therefore, anti- 
social as well as anti-Christian. All 
lawful trade promotes mutual advan- 
tages; this is the unfailing test of legiti- 
mate transactions. Hence, anything that 
benefits you by injuring your neighbor 
is wrong. Here is where the liquor 
traffic falls under the ban. And here 


63 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


' gambling meets its condemnation. But 
this is the point we so often miss in our 
denunciation of this evil; and yet here 
is the vital point. The only legitimate 
way of making gain is the putting forth 
of some effort that will further the gen- 
eral good and give to others an equiva- 
lent for their money. But in gambling 
the opposite of all this happens. No ef- 
fort for the general good, and the hap- 
piness of the winner invariably involves 
the misery of the loser. Hence, gam- 
bling is anti-social. It sears the sym- 
pathies, cultivates a hard selfishness, and 
so produces a general deterioration of 
character and conduct. Gambling is, 
therefore, only another name for steal- 
ing. Every attempt to get something 
for nothing—every attempt to take one’s 
money without rendering an equivalent 
is on a par with pick-pocketing; from 
a moral point of view there is no differ- 
ence. 

Now, there are various forms of gam- 
bling. It is really astonishing how many 
there are. During the coronation of 
King Edward, it was discovered that 


64 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


twenty-five millions of dollars of insur- 
ance was held by thrifty Britains on the 
life of their sovereign, and on the coro- 
nation itself. This betting on the life 
of a man grates upon our American 
sensibilities. But are we any better? I 
fear that an attempt at comparison 
would prove humiliating to us. 

One of the most colossal forms of 
gambling known to this country was the 
Louisiana Lottery. Here was held forth 
the glittering possibility of securing 
from one to ten thousand dollars for an 
investment of from one to ten dollars. 
It would be impossible to discover just 
how many of our people were gulled by 
this gigantic swindle, for people of all 
classes were induced to enter the lists. 
I distinctly recall the fever of my own 
brain, when, as a boy, I held a tenth of 
a ticket, and waited with baited breath 
the turn of the wheel. But the Louisiana 
Lottery is a thing of the past. By dint 
of hard work we succeeded in outlawing 
the infamous institution. Then we had 
our ‘‘policy shops,’’ which were patron- 
ized chiefly by the poorer classes. Here 

5 69 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


was the center of interest for many of 
our colored population, who played 
‘‘four eleven forty-four,’’ ‘‘come seven, 
come eleven,’’ and various other com- 
binations. Closely associated with this 
are such games as roulette, faro, for- 
tune-wheels, ete. Upon all of these the 
law now places its disapproval. Then 
there are the various games played with 
cards, such as poker and the like. And 
upon this the law places the ban. We 
have also the betting form of gambling 
already referred to. Bets are placed on 
everything—a horse race, a prize-fight, 
an athletic contest, a ball game, and even 
the results of an election. Very few men 
buy a cigar any more without resorting 
to the use of dice or a slot machine. 
This gambling device has also crept into 
our business life. We have stamped out 
the lottery, policy shops are under the 
ban, and we frown upon professional 
gambling. Yet we are a speculation- 
mad people. What about our ‘‘ bucket 
shops’? and ‘‘stock exchanges??? Mr. 
Mulhall, the English statistician, says, 
‘¢ Americans have reduced gambling to 


66 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


a science, and carry it on in a most gi- 
gantic way.”’ 

Then, we have just the common social 
gambling with cards, such as whist, 
cinch, euchre. These games have come 
to be a social fad, in which the players 
contend for prizes. This evil extended 
so far in some parts of Mississippi that 
Judge Lowry, of Holly Springs, ordered 
the grand jury of that city some time 
ago to bring in indictments against per- 
sons known to engage in progressive 
euchre playing. This new fad is rap- 
idly undermining the very foundations 
of morality. A fond mother was show- 
ing a visitor a fine punch bowl which 
she had won a short time before at a 
progressive euchre party, and was very 
proud of the achievement; when her son, 
just reaching manhood, pulled out a roll 
of greenbacks and, thumping it on the 
table, said, ‘‘See what I have won play- 
ing cards the other night.’’ The mother, 
startled and horrified, said, ‘‘ Why, you 
have been gambling.’’ Sure enough; 
they both had been gambling. I can not 
see the difference between a game of 


67 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


cards played by a lot of society ladies 
for a cut-glass vase and a game of cards 
played by a few men in some out-of-the- 
way place for five-dollar bills. All gam- 
bling looks alike to me. It is this social 
gambling that keeps the ranks of pro- 
fessional gamblers recruited. A con- 
verted gambler said in substance that 
the time was when gamblers had to be 
taught. But now this is not necessary. 
Young men are taught in their homes 
and become adepts at the game. As a 
result, the professional gamblers find the 
young men trained to their hands, and 
they are saved all the trouble in teach- 
ing them. In view of these facts, is 
it not time for Christians, and all others . 
who are interested in public and private 
morality, to go back to some of the old- 
fashioned notions that have been dis- 
carded? Progress in righteousness cer- 
tainly does not lie in the direction of 
progressive euchre, and the time may 
not be far distant when judges and 
juries will need to take the matter in 
hand to save us from individual, social, 
and national wreck. 


68 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


Some one in a small city or country 
town may ask, ‘‘How does all this 
affect our community?’’ In that case it 
may be well to say that fully three- 
fourths of what I have said applies to 
every city and town. We American 
people are afflicted with the gambling 
curse. 

Now, it may possibly surprise you to 
know that very much of this gambling 
is carried on in saloons. It has already 
been declared that the saloon is an out- 
law; that if saloon-keepers were forced 
to obey all the laws, they would be forced 
out of business. That is true as to their 
complicity in the gambling crime. Here 
is the source of much of the saloon 
profits. This is one reason why our 
saloon-keeper does not want to remove 
his screens and partitions. There are 
other gambling quarters, ’tis true, but 
they are under cover. Let us get this 
enemy that stands in the open, and then 
go after the hidden foe. 

When we come to contemplate the re- 
sults of gambling, our hearts fail us. No 
pen can write an adequate summary. No 


69 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


artist’s brush can give anything like a 
true picture. Only approximately can 
we sum up these deadly results. Cer- 
tainly it brings poverty and sorrow to 
many homes—indeed, to all gamblers’ 
homes. The question is often asked, 
‘‘What becomes of the vast sums lost 
and won in gambling?’’ ‘*‘ Why does the 
successful gambler always die poor?’’ 
Simply because no man regards the 
money obtained by gambling in the 
same way he considers the wages of 
his toil. The first thing the success- 
ful gambler thinks of is to ‘‘have a 
good time.’’ Success in gambling be- 
gets folly in spending. The loser 
loses; the winner squanders. The whole 
is gone, and both die ‘‘broke.’’ So, 
then, success in gambling is no insur- 
ance against sorrow. * * * It also 
brings business losses and failures. Of 
course the losing gambler can not pay 
his debts, and this means rum. * * * 
But how does gambling affect the great 
army of employees? From the North- 
western Christian Advocate of August 
3, 1904, I take the following, which I 


70 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


think will serve as a sufficient answer 
to the above question: ‘‘The efforts of 
employees to make up their losses in 
speculating and other forms of gambling 
by robbing their employers has led to 
several guarantee companies, which is- 
sue bonds of various kinds, to take the 
position that they will not only refuse 
to go security for those who gamble, but 
will cancel the bonds of gamblers. The 
United States Guarantee Company and 
the Guarantee Company of North Amer- 
ica, two of the largest companies in this 
country, have issued the following cir- 
cular: ‘In view of the apparently in- 
ereasing tendency to gamble and specu- 
late, which is manifesting itself among 
all classes, the growing habit among em- 
ployees of banks, railways, and other 
large enterprises to ‘‘chip in,’’ ‘‘pool,’’ 
and form a ‘‘pot’’ for the purpose of 
taking ‘‘flyers,’? profiting by ‘‘sure 
tips,’’? and by such methods inducing 
otherwise honest and reputable men, and 
especially young men and minors, to be- 
gin that which soon becomes a habit and 
afflicts as a mania; in view of the great 


71 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


pecuniary losses which fall upon em- 
ployers, surety companies, parents and 
guardians, by reason of such wrong- 
doing, and with the desire to lessen and 
stay to some degree, if possible, the 
penalties which come to the individuals 
indulging in such evils, and the misery 
and suffering which too frequently fall 
upon the parents, families, and friends, 
as a necessary result of such wrong- 
doing, the undersigned companies have 
determined to immediately cancel the 
bond on any and every employee bonded 
against whom proof of gambling or 
speculating has been obtained.’ Com- 
menting on this, the general agent of 
the first named company and secretary 
of the second, says that ‘within a com- 
paratively short time the tendency of 
young men to gamble and speculate has 
developed at an astonishing rate. We 
are doing this for the good of the em- 
ployee as well as for the protection of 
the employer. Hereafter no person who 
has a taint for the gambling habit about 
him ean obtain a bond. This action will 
do much to suppress gambling.’ In Chi- 


72 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


eago alone there are fifty thousand 
bonded employees.’? The New York 
Times of July 24, 1893, contained a col- 
umn article headed ‘‘ Victims of the Race 
Track,’’ in which it gave a long list of 
forgeries and embezzlements, all attrib- 
utable to gambling. There is a sermon 
of the deepest pathos and power in the 
confession of Geo. M. Valentine, the de- 
faulting cashier of the wrecked Perth 
Amboy, N. Y., bank. He says: ‘‘The 
Saturday I left the bank for the last 
time, I took with me seven thousand, 
nine hundred dollars that was not mine. 
I knew that the bank examiner would 
be around next week, and that I would 
have to make a semi-annual statement, 
and an apparent shortage of thirteen 
thousand dollars would be discovered. 
Therefore I took the money, determined, 
if possible, to make up my shortage. I 
went to the only place where I knew 
money could be made quickly, for I had 
no time to lose. I went to a gambling 
house and played roulette. JI won and 
lost and won again. Finally chance 
seemed to be turning in my favor. I 


(6 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


had in front of me, in chips and money, 
the seven thousand, nine hundred dol- 
lars and three thousand besides. It 
seemed to me the time had come to 
strike, and I struck. I put up every- 
thing I had. The wheel went round and 
round and I grew dizzy watching it. 
The little balls dropped into one of the 
niches, and I had lost. That was the 
end.’’ Chauncey Depew says: ‘‘A con- 
siderable portion of failures in business, 
and ninety per cent of the defaleations 
and thefts, are due to gambling. I have 
seen so much misery from men spend- 
ing their time and money in gambling 
that I have come to believe that the com- 
munity that tolerates it can not have 
prosperity in business, religion in its 
Churches, or morality among its peo- 
ple.’’ 

Now for the remedy. What can we 
do to abolish this evil? Would it not 
be well to organize an ‘‘anti-gambling 
society’’ for the purpose of creating and 
directing public opinion? We have our 
societies to suppress drunkenness, lust, 
and war. And we know what vast 


74. 


THE GAMBLING HABIT 


changes in opinion and law they have 
wrought. Why not pursue something of 
the same method in dealing with gam- 
bling? 

Would it not also be well to boycott 
all gamblers? Refuse to give your busi- 
ness patronage or your political support 
to gamblers. Nothing would do more to 
impress the public conscience than to 
make gambling a moral disqualification 
for a seat in Congress or the State Leg- 
islature. All it requires is sufficient pub- 
lic sentiment. 

But we must finally resort to legis- 
lation. Mr. Mulhall says: ‘‘So general 
has the evil become in England, that the 
House of Lords appointed a select com- 
mittee on betting. The report of that 
committee shows the alarming growth of 
this evil in that country, and the means 
that should be employed to check it. A 
step was taken in the right direction 
when the Home Secretary announced 
in the House of Commons that all lot- 
teries and raffles were to be excluded 
from the Coronation Bazar.’’ At a re- 
cent session of the Minnesota Legisla- 


75 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


ture, a bill was passed empowering 
‘“‘Any city or village to prohibit the 
maintenance of bucket-shops by a mee 
jority vote of the electors.”? * * 
We also need legislation that will pro- 
hibit the publication of betting news. 
Some newspapers are reaching such a 
high moral plane as to eliminate betting 
news from their columns. 

A recent Legislature of New York so 
changed existing laws as to make it pos- 
sible to obtain evidence against keepers 
of gambling houses. Formerly frequent- 
ers could not be compelled to testify, on 
the ground that they might degrade or 
incriminate themselves. But now testi- 
mony may be made compulsory. * * * 
These are all indications of an upward 
movement in morals. 

Here, then, are the remedies: moral 
suasion, influence, education, and legis- 
lation. By a liberal use of these we may 
make gambling as disreputable as drun- 
kenness and lust. 


76 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


**Speak not evil one of another, brethren.’’ 
—James 4: 11. 


NE of the most wonderful facul- 
ties of man is his power of 
speech. And this faculty may 
be utilized for incalculable 

good or evil. What is a word? An im- 
mortal idea. Impressed with the po- 
tency of speech, the poet Longfellow 
sings: 


ce . . 
I shot an arrow into the air, 


It fell to the earth, I knew not where; 
For so swittly it flew, the sight 
Could not follow it in its flight. 


I breathed a song into the air, 

It fell to the earth I knew not where; 
For who has sight so keen and strong 
That it can follow the flight of a song. 


Long, long afterward in an oak, 

I found the arrow still unbroke ; 

And all the song, from beginning to end, 
I found again in the heart of a friend.’’ 


Me 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Figuratively speaking, the tongue is 
a bow from which the arrow of love or 
malice flies to the hearts of our fellows. 

Morally speaking, it is more criminal 
to utter a lie than to forge a note, or 
to counterfeit a coin; for the note and 
coin you can catch and destroy, but you 
can never overtake the lie. However, 
we do not realize this. Our human 
codes of law recognize the gravity of 
the offense when it comes to the crimes 
of murder and theft, but they do not- 
count it so grave an offense when the 
murder or theft is committed by the 
tongue. 

In the third chapter of James we have 
a great sermon on the use of the tongue. 
James first teaches us to govern the 
tongue. If a man governs his tongue, 
he is a perfect man, able to govern his 
whole body. But if a man fails to gov- 
ern his tongue, all his pretensions to re- 
ligion are vain. Some one has said: 
‘‘The tongue is located in the head, up 
where it can make itself seen and heard 
and felt; and, without stopping to con- 
sult any work on anatomy, I will as- 


78 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


sume that it is nicely balanced and works 
with great ease. That it is badly de- 
praved is very apparent, and that at 
times it seems totally depraved but few 
will question.’’ 

The relation of the tongue to man is 
set forth under the two impressive fig- 
ures of the bit in the horse’s mouth and 
the helm on a ship, showing its power 
of control and direction. 

James then teaches us to dread an 
unruly tongue as we would dread a most 
pernicious evil. ‘‘The tongue is a fire, 
a world of iniquity.’’ It sets on fire the 
course of nature. Affairs of society are 
often thrown into confusion by the 
tongue. It is a fire, indeed, but it is a 
fire set on fire of hell. The devil is an 
accuser, a liar, a murderer; and when- 
ever men’s tongues are employed in 
false accusation, in a malicious scandal, 
in wicked lying, they are set on fire of 
hell. 

The apostle further shows us how dif- 
ficult it is to control this member. ‘‘It 
can not be tamed.’? To emphasize this 
fact, he compares and contrasts it with 


79 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


wild beasts. These can be tamed, but 
not the tongue. That is to say, it can 
not be tamed by any human process. If 
some Yankee could invent a patent for 
such business, his fortune would be as- 
sured. To master the tongue, and, by 
the help of grace, bring it into subjec- 
tion, is a vastly greater achievement 
than overthrowing a kingdom or found- 
ing an empire. Thus we see the task be- 
fore us. ‘‘There are but ten precepts 
of the law of God,’’ says Leighton, ‘‘and 
two of them, so far as concerns the out- 
ward organ and vent of the sins there 
forbidden, are bestowed on the tongue, 
one in the first table and the other in 
the second, as though it were ready to 
fly out both against God and man if not 
thus bridled.’’ 

Let us now look more closely at this 
power of speech as a factor in our every- 
day, practical life. No factor is more 
important in character building, both for 
ourselves and others. 

Speech may be utilized for great good, 
as when Peter the Hermit became the 
great moving spirit of the Crusades, and 


80 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


when Patrick Henry stirred the loyal, 
liberty-loving colonists of Virginia, and 
“*Give me liberty or give me death’’ be- 
came the battle-cry of American free- 
dom. Human speech may comfort the 
distressed, encourage the downcast, in- 
spire the despairing. It may arrest a 
sinful career and change the course of 
another’s life. John B. Gough is said 
to have been started on the road to 
reformation and Christian living by a 
man who pleasantly addressed him as 
““Mr. Gough’’ when he was a drunken 
loafer. 

See also in human speech the possi- 
bility of prayer and praise, of confession 
and thanksgiving. Wonderful are the 
possibilities for good. But there are also 
possibilities for evil. How many repu- 
tations and characters are destroyed 
by the unruly tongue! The Psalmist 
says: ‘‘I will take heed unto my ways, 
that I sin not with my tongue.’’ Our 
words are readily committed to our im- 
pulses; but as these impulses may easily 
be wrong, wrong words may easily be 
spoken, and the transient feeling fixes 


6 ) 81 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


itself in a word that bites. Thus, finally, 
the man is committed to something 
which he otherwise would be glad to for- 
get. This not only removes the restraint 
upon passion, but it also has a depress- 
ing effect upon life. Many a soul has 
been hurled into hell by a surly growl 
or a censorious, fault-finding spirit. 
Many of the sins of life are committed 
by the tongue. Laurentius once said: 
‘‘There are as many kinds of sins of 
the tongue as there are letters in the 
alphabet.’’ Consequently, a list of those 
things to be avoided in our conversation 
would be very large, including profanity, 
falsehood, obscenity, slander, and gossip. 
But it is my purpose to speak of just one 
— gossip. 

This sort of conversation is indulged 
in by those multitudinous, buzzing, ven- 
omous pests of society whom St. Paul 
describes as meddlers and tattlers and 
busybodies, going about from house to 
house, speaking things which they ought 
not. Under this head of gossip we may 
group several familiar things. 

But before proceeding to classify 


82 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


these, allow me to remind you that repu- 
tation and character constitute a per- 
son’s real capital. To succeed in any 
pursuit one must be in good repute both 
for ability and honor. The mechanic 
must have a reputation for skill and so- 
briety; the banker must be known for 
his business sagacity and honesty; the 
artist must be renowned for his genius 
and reliability. The minister at the al- 
tar, the lawyer at the bar, the physician 
by the bedside, must each be esteemed 
for his ability and integrity. Do you not 
see the commercial value of a reputa- 
tion? Therefore, to blast that reputa- 
tion is to rob the man. The chief dif- 
ference between a robber and a despoiler 
of a reputation is that sometimes you 
may recover the stolen goods, but never, 
or seldom, the reputation. Hence, no 
punishment is too severe for one who 
deliberately ruins the fair name of an- 
other. 
You remember the lines of Shake- 
speare: 
““Who steals my purse, steals trash; 
But he who filches from me my good name, 


83 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
Yet leaves me poor indeed.’’ 


The first form of gossip is censorious 
conversation. This word ‘‘censorious’’ 
is suggested to us by the duties of the 
Roman censor, who exercised the office of 
inspector of morals and conduct. Hence 
a censorious person is a critical, fault- 
finding person; one who delights in this. 
Nothing is easier for some people than 
to make conversation lively at the ex- 
pense of others. 

Another kind of gossip is that which 
we call ‘‘hearsay.’’ The foundation for 
this sort is laid in the preface attached 
to so many bits of news—‘‘They say.’’ 
There are many small people who are 
never so happy as when, mosquito-like, 
they can keep flitting and buzzing and 
stinging some poor victim, while they 
hide behind the statement of ‘‘hearsay.’’ 
Here is an expressive putting of the 
case: 


““Who says that Smith must beat his wife? 
Who says Jones leads a double life? 


Who says that Brown makes party strife? 
They. 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


Who says the words that sting and smart? 
Who incognito plies the art? 
And yet of whom you are a part? 

They. 


Then, we have a form of gossip known 
as ‘‘back-biting.’’ A very suggestive 
name, indeed. Here is a form of cow- 
ardly slander which does not meet the 
object of its calumny face to face, but 
stealthily bites him in the back. It was 
St. Augustine who suspended over his 
hospitable table this suggestive couplet: 


“* He that is wont to slander absent men 
May never at this table sit again.’’ 


Pythagoras used to say that the 
wound from the tongue is worse than 
that from the sword; for the latter af- 
fects only the body, while the former 
affects the spirit—the soul. Back-biting 
is as old as Adam. When this man 
Adam attempted to throw all his sin on 
his wife’s shoulders, he probably tried 
to whisper his accusation behind her 
back. But at least one person preceded 
Adam at this foul business. The devil 
slandered the Almighty in the ears of 


85 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Eve. The literal meaning of diabolos 
is back-biter. The devil was the first 
back-biter, and the father of them all. 
In many Bible texts whisperers and 
back-biters are classed together. This 
is because Satan, the original, teaches 
his children that an evil story is best 
impressed by clouding it in mystery and 
whispering it as a secret. The back-biter 
is generally one who suspects the un- 
worthiness of another because he knows 
his own unworthiness. Let it be re- 
ported to-morrow that some business 
man, hitherto known and accepted as 
honorable, has, under great temptation, 
fallen, and misappropriated trust funds, 
and the first man to believe and retail 
the report will be the man who feels in 
his own heart that, under like tempta- 
tion, he himself would have fallen. It 
is the man who has the least religion 
who makes the most noise when some- 
body else stumbles. 

There is also a form of gossip by 
which news is conveyed ‘‘in strict con- 
fidence.”? ‘‘I wouldn’t for the world 
have it go any farther.”’ 


86 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


The great trouble is that most of us 
talk too much. Some one has said, 
“<Those who have few affairs to attend 
to are great speakers. The less men 
think, the more they talk.’’ When 
Latimer was on trial for heresy, he 
heard the scratch of a pen behind the 
tapestry. In a moment he bethought 
himself that every word he spoke was 
taken down, and he was all the more 
eareful what words he uttered. Arch- 
bishop Leighton says, ‘‘He is wise that 
hath learned to speak little with others, 
and much with himself and his God.’’ 
At least eight-tenths of our Church 
troubles grow out of an improper use 
of the tongue. How important, at times, 
it is to keep the mouth shut. No trouble 
can be settled so long as people insist on 
talking about it. If an inquest were held 
over all our dead Churches by a compe- 
tent jury, in most cases the verdict 
would be: ‘‘ Killed by a quarrel brought 
on by an overdose of gossip.’’ 

Now, it is very easy for idle gossip to 
evolve into slander. If a man have the 
right to life, liberty, and property, he 

87 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


has also a right to his character; and 
every injury done to character is a crime 
against society. Of course character and 
reputation differ, character being what 
you are, and reputation what people say 
you are. Yet every attack upon repu- 
tation is, in a degree, an attack on char- 
acter. Hence, one is justified in protect- 
ing this treasure. 

Slander not only includes false state- 
ments, but also true statements misrep- 
resented. In every ease, the slanderer 
is to be feared. If a person will slander 
another to me, he will doubtless slander 
me to another. And the willing listener 
is quite as bad as the tale-bearer. 
Speaking of this class, Plautus said:. 
‘“Those men who carry about, and those 
who listen to gossips, should, if I could 
have my way, all be hanged; the tattlers 
by their tongue, and the listeners by 
their ears.’’ 

I trust that you have discovered by 
this time that it is quite as bad for a 
man to gossip and slander as for a 
woman, and that there are about as 
many men in this class as there are 


88 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


women. A gossiping, slanderous man is 
just as detestable as a gossiping woman. 
Eternity alone will reveal how many 
characters have been injured and repu- 
tations destroyed in the village store, the 
postoffice, the barber shop, and the club. 
Possibly no single vice does so much ir- 
reparable damage as the talk of idle 
tongues, that kind of talk which comes 
from empty minds. Pope, in describing 
this sort of talk, says: 


** At every word a reputation dies.’’ 


It would be well if we all should adopt 
the rule of Miss Mitford, who, when any 
scandal was repeated to her, would 
quietly answer, ‘‘ Now, I ’ll just put on 
my bonnet, and we’ll go and ask if 
that ’s true.’’ I am sure scandal could 
not long exist in the face of such efforts 
to ascertain the truth. 

I am not now inferring that every bit 
of gossip is untrue. Alas! some of it 
is only too true. But God’s Word 

‘eautions us against speaking evil of an- 
other, even if it is true, unless there is 
some necessity for it. Our lips must be 


89 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


guided by the law of kindness and love. 
Where we can not speak well, usually 
we had better say nothing. We must not 
take pleasure in making known the 
faults of others. We must not divulge 
the secret things of other lives. Some 
things that are true need not be told. 
The deepest wounds may be made by 
the tongue that never tells a lie, but 
which unlovingly tells the needless and 
painful truth. True charity may some- 
times demand silence. 

There are various ways in which we 
may slander another without saying a 
word—a mere gesture will suffice. A 
shrug of the shoulder, a wink of the eye, 
a tilt of the head, a raising of the brow, 
a sigh, a rising inflection on the voice. 
Any one of a hundred little motions will 
do. Ruskin says: ‘‘The essence of ly- 
ing is in deception, not in words. A lie 
may be told by silence, by equivocation, 
by the accent on a syllable, by a glance 
of the eye; and all these kinds of lies 
are worse and baser by many degrees 
than a lie plainly worded; so that no 
form of blinded conscience is so far sunk 


90 


THE GOSSIP EVIL 


as that which comforts itself for hav- 
ing deceived, because the deception was 
by gesture or silence, instead of utter- 
ance.’’ 

There are two kinds of slander espe- 
cially worthy of consideration and con- 
demnation. One is political slander, by 
which the reputation and character of 
every rival candidate is torn to shreds. 
This is why good men fear to enter 
politics. I believe the time has come for 
some means to be devised to protect the 
good names of our political candidates. 
* * * The other kind of slander is 
journalistic, by which public characters 
are brought into disfavor and ridicule 
by the editorial and the cartoon. Why 
should our public men be made to ap- 
pear foolish and ridiculous in the funny 
cartoon? Here lies one of the causes of 
our modern irreverence and disregard 
for law. ‘‘Yellow journalism’’ leads us 
to think lightly of rules and laws, until 
we have developed a dangerous contempt 
for both. The time has come to treat 
every yellow journalist as we would any 
other defamer of character. 


91 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Now, to remedy this evil of gossip, we 
must, first of all, be candid. This word 
‘‘candid’’ comes from the Latin ‘‘can- 
didus,’’ meaning white and clear. It re- 
ferred to the Roman candidate for office 
robed in his white toga. We must also 
be simple. Follow the direction of 
Wagner’s ‘‘Simple Life.’? ‘‘Simplic- 
ity’? comes from ‘‘sine,’’ without, and 
‘“plica,’’ fold, without fold. Duplic- 
ity is having two folds. Simplicity is 
single-mindedness, straightforwardness. 
We must also be sincere. This word, 
again, is from ‘‘sine,’’ without, and 
‘‘cera,’’? wax, without wax, pure honey. 
And so we get purity of heart and 
thought. It is a matter of the heart. 
““Out of the abundance of the heart the 
mouth speaketh.’’ Get the heart clean, 
and the speech will be clean. The Psalm- 
ist was a philosopher when he said, 
‘‘Let the words of my mouth and the 
meditation of my heart be acceptable in 
Thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my 
Redeemer. ’’ 


92 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


““This know also, that in the last days peril- 
ous times shall come. . . . For men shall 
be lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God.’’ 

—Second Timothy 3: 1-4. 


HIS text directs our thought, 
not so much to the peril of 
open and violent opposition to 


the truth, as to the danger of 
indifference and indulgence. In these 
four verses of Scripture every command 
of the Decalogue is comprehended. 
There is a time coming when the people 
shall be idolatrous. Self, money, and 
pleasure will be their gods. And it re- 
quires no great effort to see that we are 
fast approaching that time. Leaving out 
of our consideration the matters of self 
and money, let us devote our attention 
to the pleasure problem. Men shall be 
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
God! What myriad forms of pleasure, 


93 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


pastime, recreation, and amusement we 
have invented for ourselves! 

I am aware of the fact that the dis- 
cussion of this subject leads us on to 
some very delicate ground, for all of us 
do not, nor will we ever, think the same 
with regard to the matter. We all do 
agree that man, in his many-sidedness, 
has a large capacity for pleasure, and 
that it is God-given. But there are all 
sorts of notions. Some regard all forms 
of amusement and pleasure indiscrim- 
inately as right and good. Others re- 
gard all pleasure indiscriminately as 
wrong. Some people place great ques- 
tion marks about certain well-known 
forms of amusement. Others have no 
question whatever concerning them. 
Hence, when a young person enters into 
the social life, the first impression is 
queer and puzzling. There is no doubt 
we have been swinging to extremes. 
Eggleston, referring to one of these, 
says, in his ‘‘Roxy:’’ ‘‘ Puritan preach- 
ers and teachers of the seventeenth cen- 
tury are the masters of the nineteenth 
century. To this day we take our most 


94 


THH PLEASURE PROBLEM 


innocent amusements in a guilty and 
apologetic fashion, bowing to the ven- 
erable prejudice of the past.’? This is 
the conservative extreme toward which 
we did swing a generation ago. But to- 
day we are swinging rapidly toward the 
radical extreme and flinging ‘‘venerable 
prejudice,’’ both good and bad, to the 
winds. 

What we need is a view of this side 
of life which shall be free from all fanat- 
icism on the one hand and all rank world- 
liness on the other. However we may 
differ, we all agree that some forms of 
recreation and amusement are permissi- 
ble—nay, are obligatory. All work and 
no play makes a very dull disciple. The 
peril of the times is not that men love 
pleasure; that is natural to them; man’s 
capacity for pleasure makes it an abso- 
lute necessity. But the peril of our time 
is that men love pleasure more than 
they love God. 

You will notice that pleasures easily 
divide themselves into two very distinct 
classes, those which give diversion with 
rest to mind and body, and those which 

95 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


give diversion with waste to mind and 
body. Those of the first class are whole- 
some, healthy, necessary; those of the 
second are enervating, unhealthful, ex- 
hausting. By applying this test you may 
quickly classify any pleasure under its 
proper head. 

Thus we see that pleasures may be 
lawful and healthy. But they should 
never be the ruling passion of our lives. 
We are not here simply to have a good 
time. Neither are we here to drudge 
three hundred and sixty-five days every 
year without intermission or variations. 
We are social beings; it is the social 
instinct that leads us to live together 
in towns and cities, to institute govern-- 
ments, and establish Churches. You 
have doubtless heard of the old Irish 
woman who was found by a mission 
worker in New York City, supporting 
herself by picking rags. The mission 
worker had the old lady sent to the 
country for the summer. But one day, 
shortly after, the Christian woman was 
surprised to find the old woman in her 
old haunts. On being questioned as to 


96 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


why she did not stay in the country, 
she replied, ‘‘I likes peoples better nor 
stumps.’’ It was the social side of her 
soul expressing itself. 

It is this social side of life that de- 
mands rest, diversion, and entertain- 
ment; this is necessary to our best work 
and character. The real mission of 
pleasure, therefore, is to help and stim- 
ulate, to clear the brain, cheer the heart, 
and freshen the energies. Its ministry 
is to bless, not hurt; to uplift, not to 
degrade; to make one more and more 
the child of God, and not more and more 
the child of the devil. The children of 
men are entitled to all the legitimate 
pleasure they can find. There is none 
too much for many people. 

But there is much that is positively 
harmful in many of our modern forms 
of amusement. Alas! who has not at 
times felt that he has been harmed by 
his diversions? Indeed, many of our 
amusements are positively hurtful to the 
body, mind, and soul. No wonder the 
Church places her ban on some of them. 
I can not refrain from speaking specific- 


7 97 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


ally of some of these things, and I do 
it in all kindness. JI have not dipped my 
pen in gall, but have tried to exercise 
the utmost charity toward all who do 
not agree with me. 

First, there are the cards. I speak 
not against mere pieces of pasteboard, 
nor the fantastic characters printed on 
them, nor even of the element of chance, 
for I can conceive how this element of 
chance may add to the interest of inno- 
cent sport and give needed recreation. 
But cards are in bad repute; they have 
fallen into disgraceful association; they 
are often suggestive of the low and vul- 
gar and foul. There is also such a fas- 
cination about them for many people 
that they cease to be a means of recrea- 
tion and quickly merge into dissipation. 
There are those who inquire, ‘‘Can not 
ecards be played at home, where sur- 
roundings are good?’’ Certainly. But 
the difficulty is to keep them home. I 
have already shown, in a preceding ser- 
mon, that they are runaways, and fre- 
quently young people trained at the 
social table have become professional 
gamblers. 98 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM | 


Then, there is the dance. This is 
such a live topic that no sermon on 
pleasure-seeking can ignore it. What do 
we find of an objectionable character in 
our modern dance? ‘True it is that 
David danced before the Lord in holy 
ecstasy. True it is that the maidens of 
Israel greeted David in patriotic fervor 
with timbrel and dance. But this is all 
very different from the modern dance. 
If religious fervor or love of country 
should be the motive of the dance—if 
the sexes should dance separately, as did 
the men and maidens of Israel—then I 
would have nothing to say by the way 
of objections. But there are, as every 
sane man and woman knows, dangers 
and evils attending our twentieth cen- 
tury dance. 

There are sexual dangers to which it 
exposes its devotees. The liberties ac- 
corded in the dance of to-day are such 
as to arouse the lower passions. I do 
not say that all who dance are impure. 
I do say that the temptations in that 
direction are very great. A New York 
chief of police declares that three- 


99 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


fourths of the abandoned women of New 
York City were ruined in the dance. 

There are also physical evils which 
are neither few nor ineonsiderable. 
Late hours, liability of taking severe 
cold because of lack of proper clothing, 
and an exhausting strain upon highly 
strung nerves constitute the black-list of 
dancing. The same statement with ref- 
erence to card-playing holds good here. 
It quickly passes from recreation to dis- 
sipation. 

To any one who inquires if there is 
any harm in a select home dance, I 
answer that, like the cards, it can not 
in many eases be kept either select or 
at home. Its fascinations lead the young 
woman to the public dance, where she 
is compelled to associate with men to 
whom she would not deign to speak on 
the street. 

To the one inquiring whether or not 
a Christian may dance, I answer, Much 
depends upon the kind of Christian you 
choose to be. A very few people have 
crossed Niagara Falls on a rope. But 
thousands have gone over on the great 


100 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


bridge. So some few have possibly re- 
tained a nominal Christianity while they 
danced, but thousands have widened and 
strengthened their influence by using 
their time in better pursuits. 

And what shall I say of the theater? 
Attempts to reform the theater have 
been repeatedly made, but with only 
temporary success. It is true that all 
theaters are not now so bad as all 
theaters were in the reign of Charles II. 
But to-day some are as bad as the worst 
ever were. That the worst thrive best, 
and the most respectable yield often to 
the low—and all because it pays—are 
reasons which lead one to think that all 
the corruption has not been removed. 
I do not protest against scenic represen- 
tations or ingenious impersonation, for 
the eyes are in no sense inferior to the 
ears as channels of knowledge and in- 
spiration. But here the theater stands, 
an immense institution, whose influence 
is bad. It was outlawed by the Greeks 
and Romans, the Spartans believed in 
its prohibition, and Macaulay says of 
English theaters that, ‘‘From the time 

101 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


they were opened they were the semina- 
ries of vice.’’ 

The great trouble with the theater is 
that it deals in highly spiced goods. Its 
love affairs are elopements and in- 
trigues. Home life is made to appear 
tame. Goodness is placed at a discount. 
Modesty is superseded by vulgarity. 
Undiscovered rascality is often made 
heroic. Its Christians are often made 
to appear as fawning hypocrites, narrow 
bigots, or senseless fanaties. Hence, its 
moral effect on the community is not 
good. 

The effect on the actors and actresses 
is not good. Said one successful actress, 
‘“To keep pure on the stage is a giant’s 
task.’? Mr. Clement Scott, the eminent 
English dramatic critic, says: ‘‘If any 
one I loved insisted upon going on the 
stage, I would be terrified for her fu- 
ture, hopeless for the endurance of our 
affection or even our friendship. For 
stage life, according to my experience, 
has a tendency to deaden the finer feel- 
ings and crush the inner nature of men 
and women; to substitute artificiality 


102 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


and hollowness for sincerity and truth. 
I speak from an intimate experience 
with the stage extending over thirty- 
seven years.’’ 

Thus the general trend of the theater 
is bad. Edwin Booth once wrote that 
he never permitted his wife or daughters 
to witness a play until he had first 
ascertained its character. He says: 
‘While the theater is permitted to be 
a mere shop of gain—open to every 
huckster of moral gimecracks—there is 
no other way to discriminate between the 
pure and the base than through the ex- 
perience of others.’’ <A careful study 
was made of sixty plays produced in 
New York’s best theaters, and it was 
found that more than fifty of them were 
corrupt. The same results followed sim- 
ilar investigations in Chicago and Indi- 
anapolis. After carefully examining 
sixty plays put on the stage in New 
York City in one winter, a distinguished 
writer says: ‘‘If language which would 
not be tolerated among respectable peo- 
ple, and profaneness which would be 
branded as irreligious, are improper 


103 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


amusements, then at least fifty of these 
plays should be condemned.’’ 

I have been informed that in Germany 
the Government regulates the amuse- 
ments through a secretary appointed for 
that purpose. It is his business to cen- 
sor all proposed plays, prohibiting 
everything of a degrading character. It 
is quite evident that we need some such 
provision here in America. 

I am not presuming to say that all 
actors and actresses are immoral or that 
all plays are degrading. There have 
been a most noble line of men and women 
who have elevated the stage, and there 
have been many plays whose influence 
upon life has been salutary. Comparing 
the theater with the other two question- 
able amusements already referred to, I 
am compelled to say that I find in it the 
least objection. With proper direction, 
the theater could be made a most forcible 
preacher of righteousness. 

Before leaving this phase of the sub- 
ject, I can not refrain from offering a 
few suggestions concerning the wordy 
war which has been waged over para- 


104 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


graph two hundred and forty-eight, now 
two hundred and sixty, of our Methodist 
Discipline. 

Most Methodists who urge the re- 
moval of this paragraph, which specific- 
ally prohibits certain worldly amuse- 
ments, are strongly opposed to these 
amusements. They believe that Chris- 
tians should not indulge in them; that 
they are detrimental to the spiritual life 
and hinder the progress of the Church. 
So that both parties to the controversy 
agree that the things prohibited are bad. 
But those who favor the retention of 
the paragraph in question have not al- 
ways given their opponents credit for 
being honestly opposed to these things 
as they themselves are. The main dif- 
ference is one of method. The conserva- 
tive think that if these things are bad, 
we as a Church should say so with all 
distinctiveness. They hold that amuse- 
ments which hurt the Christian and re- 
tard the progress of the Church should 
be specifically and emphatically prohib- 
ited. It has seemed to them that if the 
law is not always rigidly enforced, the 


105 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


existence of that law has a deterrent ef- 
fect and prevents thousands of our 
members from indulging in these things. 
Still further, it has been felt that, if 
this paragraph should be expunged from 
the Discipline, it would be interpreted 
as a practical abandonment of our posi- 
tion on the whole question of sinful 
amusements. 

On the other hand, the radicals claim 
that the paragraph is obsolete and al- 
most never enforced. That the fact of 
its violation is so often winked at that 
it tends to break down respect for the 
Book of Discipline and for the Church. 
That it is better to lay down general 
principles for Christian conduct, and 
allow individuals to fashion their lives 
according to the teachings of the 
Word of God and the dictates of con- 
science. That it would be better to in- 
corporate into the Discipline a general 
deliverance on the subject of sinful di- 
versions, embodying a fervent exhorta- 
tion not to indulge in them. That the 
catalogue of prohibited amusements is 
of recent origin, and that we would 


106 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


better return to the historical and gen- 
eral rules given to the Church by Mr. 
Wesley; that we should avoid ‘‘such 
diversions as can not be used in the 
name of the Lord Jesus.’’ 

Thus you see there is very little dif- 
ference in the Christian ethics of the 
two contending parties. I trust, there- 
fore, that in future discussions of this 
issue we shall not declare that those 
who urge the removal of this paragraph 
are a backslidden lot and desire to 
plunge the Church into a sea of world- 
limess. Let us give each other credit for 
love of the Church; for loyalty to what 
we all conceive to be her highest inter- 
ests. We must remember that not all 
good people see issues from exactly the 
same angle of vision. Whatever side of 
this issue we advocate, let us by all 
means be fair. 

Tn connection with this pleasure prob- 
lem, and as one of its factors, I must 
refer to the shameful misuse of wealth. 
I have read that ‘‘there are six thou- 
sand New York women who spend an- 
nually forty million dollars for dress.’’ 


107 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Also that ‘‘there are certainly ten thou- 
sand rich women in America who could 
save for the poor at least thirty million 
dollars a year by simply reducing their 
annual allowance to three thousand dol- 
lars apiece.’? Dr. Strong says that 
‘forty-nine dollars and eighty-five cents 
will clothe a tenement family of six or 
seven for one year.’’ Thus the thirty 
millions saved would clothe six hundred 
thousand families, or practically all the 
deserving poor in the United States. 

Now, if you ask any one of these 
women why she spends so much on dress, 
she will say, ‘‘ We women dress to please 
the men.’’? But is this true? I think 
the average man will tell you that the 
women dress to please themselves, for 
general admiration, and to keep abreast 
with the fashion. If women dressed to 
please the men, then single women, who 
are interested in securing a desirable 
husband, would be the most lavishly 
dressed; but such is not the case. The 
fact is, men marry for love, or beauty, 
or charm, or even for money, but never 
for clothes. 


108 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


There are also the social functions— 
banquets, dinners, luncheons, receptions, 
balls, and entertainments, where these 
expensive dresses are worn and where 
wealth is spent with a prodigal hand. 
Speaking of the ball given by Mr. Hyde, 
of Equitable Life Assurance fame, a 
New York paper remarked: ‘‘If a man 
wishes to spend a hundred thousand 
dollars on a costume party, and he has 
the money, and got it honestly, no one 
has a right to find fault.’’? And again, 
“When people have money to burn, they 
would certainly suffer cruelly if they 
were not allowed to burn it.’’ But the 
“‘burning’’ of this money by Mr. Hyde, 
you will remember, resulted in the great 
life insurance investigations which re- 
tired Mr. Hyde and others from re- 
sponsible positions. 

It is this display of wealth that is 
causing much of the industrial unrest 
and social disorder in our large cities 
to-day. When a rich man will give a 
five-thousand-dollar breakfast to his 
friends while five thousand people are 


109 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


starving in the streets, there is cause 
for alarm. 

Thus the inordinate desire for pleas- 
ure, and chiefly that of the questionable 
sort, asserts itself. When I come to 
study this problem, I find myself fear- 
ing that our people have gone amuse- 
ment daft. In 1903 a New York City 
paper counted forty-six new play- 
houses in this country, with a total cost 
of seventeen and one-half million dol- 
lars. Thirteen of these were in New 
York City, and cost eight and one-half 
millions. One who knows, says that in 
New York City the theaters cost more 
annually than the schools and Churches 
and police force combined. There are 
a thousand and one forms of amuse- 
ment beckoning the people on to a life 
of pleasure. 

But do not be deceived into believing 
that much of this is real pleasure or 
recreation. We need recreation. Ex- 
hausted by toil, fretted by care, and 
weighed down by anxiety and worry, we 
need to forget our troubles, to rest, to 
be cheered, to be re-created. Now, what 


110 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


will do this for us? Surely not dancing 
till daybreak in a heated room in com- 
pany with men and women who are 
morally beneath us; not shuffling cards 
all night, and working ourselves up into 
a frenzy of excitement over the game; 
not the wasting of three mortal hours 
in the impure atmosphere of a crowded 
theater, applauding profanity, obscenity, 
and ribald wit. No; these things belong 
to the sensual man, the man who is ruled 
by his passions and appetites. His no- 
blest pursuit is self-gratification, and his 
end is disappointment and shame. The 
Greeks had a temple of pleasure which 
was entered through a magnificent door- 
way, where lights gleamed and minstrels 
played and sang. From within came the 
sound of music and dancing. But ai the 
rear of the temple was a wicket-gate 
opening into a swine-yard. The lesson 
is not far to seek. The end of pleasure- 
seeking is not satisfaction, but satiety. 
Ah! When men and women become 
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of 
God, then the situation is extremely 
critical. * * * Immersed as many 
111 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


are in business, or carried away by fas- 
cinating pleasure, it is difficult to believe 
that that which is of supreme interest 
is in danger of being lost. To all ap- 
peals the answer is apt to be in sub- 
stance, ‘‘I am satisfied with life as it 
is.”? It is related of Charles VII of 
France, that when the affairs of his 
country were in a most desperate state, 
England being in possession of the cap- 
ital, the king continued to amuse him- 
self with balls and entertainments, just 
as though nothing serious was pending. 
One day, when the king was in the midst 
of preparations for a particularly elab- 
orate function, one of his ministers came 
to him on a matter of public business. 
The king talked about the coming enter- 
tainment, and finally asked the minis- 
ter what he thought of it. ‘‘I think,”’ 
said he, ‘‘that it is impossible for any 
one to lose his kingdom more pleasantly 
than your majesty.’’ How many there 
are who are losing their kingdom pleas- 
antly in these days! 

This pleasure-seeking craze has its ef- 
fect upon Sabbath observance. All our 


112 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


theaters and places of entertainment in 
the cities, with few exceptions, are open 
on Sunday; and Christian people have 
to fight to keep our national expositions 
closed on that day. Indeed, Sunday is 
coming to be regarded as a holiday in- 
stead of a holy-day. When King Ed- 
ward shocked his subjects by desecrat- 
ing the Sabbath, Dr. Joseph Parker, in 
his London pulpit, said, ‘‘If the king 
goes to a Sunday concert, as he did re- 
cently, he deals a deadly blow to the 
Englishman’s Sunday.’’ This is equally 
true concerning American officials and 
the American Sunday. When Prince 
Henry of Prussia visited our country, 
our public officials never recognized any 
such thing as an American Sabbath. 
Traveling and all sorts of entertain- 
ments were planned on that day. 
Naturally and inevitably there has 
arisen a demand among the common 
people, and especially of the baser sort, 
for equal rights and privileges—per- 
sonal liberty; and to-day a large element 
is clamoring for Sunday games, con- 
certs, and plays, and saloons are crying 
8 113 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


for a wide-open Sunday. In the midst 
of it all, good men are inquiring, with 
bated breath, ‘‘ Where is it all to end?’’ 

Now, when doctors disagree as to this 
question of pleasure, who shall decide? 
I answer, the individual conscience, in- 
spired by the example of Jesus. What 
was Jesus’ attitude? He never con- 
demned all desire for pleasure—only ex- 
cessive desire. He was not an ascetic. 
He attended a marriage feast and other 
social festivities, and the Pharisees 
called Him ‘‘a gluttonous man and a 
wine-bibber.’’ But Jesus never went for 
the food and drink; He regarded them 
as opportunities for teaching and infiu- 
encing men. While Jesus entered into 
life’s pleasures, yet all waste, extrava- 
gance, vulgar display, selfishness, prodi- 
gality, and exclusiveness are hostile to 
His spirit and life and teaching. 

Jesus taught that there are other 
pleasures besides these lower, animal, 
sensual ones. ‘‘Anything constitutes 
our pleasure that we like or prefer,”’ 
says Sedgwick. Now, Jesus came to ex- 
alt our tastes and desires. Sensual 


114 


THE PLEASURE PROBLEM 


pleasure is only the vestibule to the 
temple of spiritual delight. The only 
true and lasting pleasures are those that 
partake of the nature of the life to come, 
the pleasures of love and sympathy and 
service and devotion and gladness of 
soul. 

Jésus teaches that joy is not found in 
objects; it is in ourselves. I know how 
it seems to a young person entering so- 
ciety. It would seem that cards and 
dancing, the theater, wine suppers, and 
the like just about describe the whole 
range of social pleasure. There seems 
to be but little left with these cut out. 
But let me ask you, young man, young 
woman, What is your point of view? 
What are you seeking? Is it the killing 
of time? Is it just a frolic? If so, go 
ahead. But if you want improvement, 
then pause and consider. 

To all who are perplexed over this 
pleasure problem, I offer this excellent 
rule given by Susannah Wesley to her 
son John: ‘‘Would you judge of the 
lawfulness or unlawfulness of a pleas- 
ure, take this rule: Whatever weakens 


115 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


your reason, impairs the tenderness of 
your conscience, obscures your sense of 
God, or takes off the relish of spiritual 
things; whatever increases the authority 
of your body over your mind, that thing, 
to you, is sin.’’ 


116 


THE GREED FOR GOLD. 


““ They that will be rich fal] into temptation and 
a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, 
which drown men in destruction and perdition. 


For the love of money is the root of all evil.’’ 
—First Timothy 6: 9-10. 


HIS text sets before us the great 
and growing evil of greed, 
covetousness, avarice, an evil 
which is the real underlying 

cause of many vices, frauds, oppressions, 
and crimes. 

Those who allow the accumulation of 
wealth to become the ruling passion of 
their lives do fall into many temptations 
and snares. The Scriptures do not say 
this is the case of those who are rich 
indiscriminately; but of those who will 
be rich; those who place their happi- 
ness in wealth; those who covet it in- 
ordinately and pursue it violently. The 
devil, true to his characteristic shrewd- 


117 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


ness, sees the direction in which men’s 
lusts carry them, and he baits his hook 
accordingly. He knew how fond Achan 
would be of the golden wedge, and how 
eagerly Judas would take the offered 
pieces of silver. 

As we view the situation, there are 
three conditions possible for the future 
life of the world. First, domination of 
the world by the spirit of commercial- 
ism, when the dollar will in fact be al- 
mighty among men. Second, a constant, 
varying struggle between the forces of 
commercialism and evangelism. Third, 
the domination of the world life by the 
forces of evangelism, when money shall 
take its proper place as the servant of 
men. It is indeed sad, but none the less 
true, that the signs of the times indi- 
eate the growth of the money-power. It 
is astounding how strong a grip the 
spirit of avarice has upon the people. 
It is evident in the nation. The most 
conspicuous sign of the times is the ex- 
traordinary expansion of our national 
wealth and territory. It is evident in 
business life. Was there ever such an 


118 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


age of corporations, combines, and 
trusts? It is evident in the individual. 
Dissatisfaction and discontent are in 
evidence everywhere, and men are con- 
tinually reaching after more. All this 
tends to more and more ungodliness, 
until the spirit of greed controls men. 
This is a calamity, for it eliminates from 
man every humane, benevolent, and 
philanthropic purpose. The more he 
gets the more he wants, until, like the 
sponge that absorbs constantly, and 
never gives out anything until it is 
squeezed, this man absorbs all the wealth 
of the community, only doing some act 
of benevolence when squeezed, forced to 
do so by public sentiment. 

There has developed among us as a 
people an alarming desire for wealth, 
and the schemes for gratifying it are 
legion. Many of these practices will not 
bear the scrutinizing eye of the civil law, 
and many more will slink away before 
the light of the moral law. Not only 
is there a passion for money-getting, but 
also for getting it quickly. It is aston- 
ishing how quickly and completely the 

119 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


money-interests of this country are con- 
centrating in the hands of a few. Ac- 
cording to the census of 1900, there were 
one hundred and eighty-three corpora- 
tions controlling twenty-two hundred 
and three plants. The fact that these 
few corporations control more than 
three billion dollars of capital, and pro- 
duce the major portion of our manufac- 
tures, is enough to make the thinking 
man give renewed consideration to the 
problem of wealth concentration. There 
are to-day possibly a dozen men who 
hold the bulk of this country’s wealth; 
and they have acquired it in an incred- 
ibly short time. A generation ago a mil- 
lionaire was a curiosity, but to-day there 
are a number of men whose interest- 
money reaches into the millions. I do 
not charge that all of this money is 
tainted by unfair practices, but there is 
strong evidence to prove that much of 
it is. 

Many of those possessing great wealth 
have paid too dearly for it. When a 
man obtains wealth at the expense of 
his health he is paying too dearly for it. | 


120 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


Surely we have not forgotten the fabu- 
lous price men paid for wealth during 
the mad rush to the Klondike gold field 
a few years ago, when hundreds of lives 
were thrown into the balance. Many 
journeyed there to dig gold, but they 
only dug their graves in the ice and 
snow. When a man obtains wealth at 
the expense of his family, he pays too 
dearly for it. This is true of men who 
leave comfortable homes with educa- 
tional and religious advantages and 
move into localities without schools and 
Churches, or where the morals are cor- 
rupting. And all of this privation in 
order to secure a little land. When a 
man obtains wealth at the expense of his 
conscience, he pays an exorbitant price. 
Some people have grown rich lying to 
the assessor. The community that has 
not a few tax-dodgers is a rare excep- 
tion. The prevalence of this evil has 
made tax-ferret laws necessary in sev- 
eral of our States. 

The power of money is rampant in al- 
most every walk of life. In the paths 
of passion and shame the power of 

121 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


money dominates. It is stronger than 
the passions and vices of men. Elim- 
inate money from the drink question, 
and you have nearly solved the problem. 
One of the two great pillars on which 
the drink traffic rests is gain, the other 
being sociability. If there were no 
money in it, no man would want to man- 
ufacture or sell intoxicants, and no com- 
munity would tolerate a saloon. Elim- 
inate money from the social evil, and 
you will greatly simplify the problem. 
Eliminate money from polities, and you 
make possible better government and 
purer legislation. 

But even in the legitimate branches 
of business enterprise we are confronted 
with the dominant power of greed. Re- 
cently Mr. Thomas Lawson has been giv- 
ing us some lessons in ‘‘Frenzied Fi- 
nanee,’’ an exposé of the financial work- 
ings of ‘‘Standard Oil’’ and ‘‘ Amalga- 
mated Copper.’? We may not be will- 
ing to accept all that Mr. Lawson says, 
but he certainly provokes us to thought. 
We have not yet forgotten our experi- 
ence with the coal trust, when, as a re- 


122 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


sult of the miners’ strike, we were 
threatened with a coal famine and the 
price of coal shot up almost ‘‘out of 
sight.’’ A commission settled the dif- 
ferences between the companies and the 
strikers, but the ‘‘dear public’’ is still 
paying the bills. We have also had our 
experience with the meat trust, which 
has caused beef ‘‘on the hoof’’ to go 
down, down, down, and beef ‘‘on the 
hook’’ to go up, up, up. Thus, the worst 
enemies of the country are those within 
her own borders, enjoying the protection 
of her laws, and the benefits of her social 
and political life, while they ‘‘corner”’ 
food stuffs and necessities of life, thus 
forcing the man of limited capital out 
of business and causing many of the 
worthy poor to suffer and die. * * * 
In his address before the Union League 
Club at Philadelphia, January 30, 1905, 
President Roosevelt declared that the 
corporate interests of the United States 
must submit to Government supervision. 
With far-sighted clearness of vision, Mr. 
Lincoln saw that in a Republic such as 
ours, permanent prosperity of any part 


123 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


of our people was conditioned upon the 
prosperity of all; and that, on the other 
hand, any effort to raise the general level 
of happiness by striking at the well- 
being of a portion of the people could 
not but result disastrously to all. The 
same principles apply to our industrial 
problems to-day. In the address re- 
ferred to, Mr. Roosevelt said: ‘‘ Neither 
will this people, nor any other free 
people, permanently tolerate the use of 
the vast power conferred by vast wealth, 
and especially by wealth in corporate 
form, without lodging somewhere in the 
Government the still higher power of 
seeing that thispower * * * is used 
for, and not against, the interests of the 
people as a whole. We do not intend 
that this people shall ever fail as those 
of olden times failed, in which there 
finally came a government by classes, 
which resulted either in the poor plun- 
dering the rich, or in the rich * * * 
enslaving the poor; for either event 
means the destruction of free institu- 
tions and of individual liberty.’’ 

Paul’s statement to Timothy has its 


124 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


‘warning for the minister as well as the 
layman. He addresses Timothy as a 
‘man of God.’’ Ministers are ‘‘men of 
God,’’ and should conduct themselves 
accordingly in everything. In these days 
of so many temptations that come to 
ministers to speculate, the words of 
Paul are of great significance. ‘‘But 
thou, O man of God, flee these things.”’ 
Beware of the love of money, the rock 
on which so many human barks have 
foundered. It ill becomes any man, but 
especially ‘‘the man of God,’’ to set his 
heart upon the things of the world. 
Nothing so weakens the influence of a 
minister like the spirit of avarice, a 
grasping desire for material wealth. 

Do not misunderstand me. It is pos- 
sible for a man to have much money 
and not love it. I know such cases are 
rare; but they do exist. On the other 
hand, a man may exercise an avaricious 
spirit with the little that he has. It 
must also be understood that there is a 
vast difference between greed and am- 
bition. One may be ambitious without 
avarice. Indeed, one of the prophecies 

125 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


of an unhappy future for a nation is the 
fact that its people are without ambi- 
tion. Hence, I would do my utmost to 
inspire the boys and girls with a lofty 
ambition. Determine to be a factor in 
society, and to acquire a reasonable 
amount of material wealth. But by all 
means make this ambition subservient to 
the purpose of developing a magnificent 
character. 

Now, how do men use their wealth 
when once acquired? The expansion of 
wealth, national or private, brings with 
it an increase of responsibility and peril. 
What problems our newly acquired ter- 
ritory has brought to the nation! What 
is to be our solution of the trust prob- 
lem? This, indeed, is not a time for 
self-congratulation, but for self-seareh- 
ing. ‘‘Mr. Dooley’’ has aptly remarked 
that ‘‘the problem of the Philippines is 
not so much what we will do with them, 
as what they will be likely to do with 
us.’’ In view of the great and rapid 
increase of wealth, what is to become of 
the simplicity, integrity, and idealism by 
which American life has been character- 

126 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


ized? Are we to become a nation of 
tariffs and exports, of trusts and com- 
bines, of stocks and bonds, of silver and 
gold; or are we to remain, as of old, 
the standard-bearers of democracy? 

It must be admitted that some wealthy 
people have conscientiously used their 
money for untold good. That canting 
spirit which pretends that no good can 
be done by the use of money, but that 
everything of worth must be achieved by 
personal effort, should be discouraged. 
It is merely the combined result of con- 
ceit on the part of those who have no 
money to give, and hypocrisy on the part 
of those who have the money but do not 
want to give it. ‘‘If there were none 
of those maligned rich people,’’ wrote 
a sensible lady, ‘‘who would build hos- 
pitals, asylums, and orphanages? Who 
would endow colleges, and donate li- 
braries, and promote public charity?’’ 
If we are honest in our thinking, we will 
concede that some good people have used 
their money wisely and well. It would 
be impertinent to deny that the millions 
of George Peabody have been an incal- 


127 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


culable blessing to the artisans of Lon- 
don. It would be foolish to assert that 
the millions of Mr. Crittenton have not 
helped many abandoned girls to a better 
life. And what shall we say of the 
benevolence of Miss Helen Gould? 

But money has in it the possibility of 
evil as well as good. This is aptly illus- 
trated by the poet: 


“Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! 
Bright and yellow, hard and cold. 
Molten, graven, hammered, and rolled, 
Heavy to get and light to hold; 
Hoarded, bartered, bought, and sold, 
Stolen, borrowed, squandered, doled ; 
Spurned by the young, but hugged by the 
old 
To the very verge of the Churchyard mold ; 
Price of many a crime untold. 
Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! 
Good or bad a thousand-fold 
How widely its agencies vary ; 
To save, to ruin, to curse, to bless, 
As even its mingled coins express, 
Now stamped with the image of Good Queen 
Bess, 
And now of a Bloody Mary.’’ 


128 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


Yes, money will kindle a fire to warm 
the blue hands of poverty, or to burn up 
truth, virtue, love, and all the noblest 
passions of the heart. Money will pro- 
vide bread for the hungry, or glut the 
soul and body with brutish vices. 

However, every true student of human 
nature observes that the tendency of 
growing wealth is to destroy the nobler 
life of the soul. There is a deeper mean- 
ing than most of us discover in the state- 
ment of Jesus, ‘‘It is easier for a camel 
to go through the eye of a needle than 
for a rich man to enter the kingdom of 
heaven.’’ Surely we are not to under- 
stand by this that God discriminates 
against any class of men, for He is ‘‘no 
respecter of persons.’’ The real truth 
is that rich men, as a class, do not want 
to enter the kingdom of heaven, or, 
rather, they do not care to pay the price 
of admission. The thing we are not in- 
clined to do is always exceedingly dif- 
ficult. The noted actor, David Garrick, 
purchased for himself a beautiful man- 
sion with magnificent grounds and gar- 
dens. He invited his friend, the noted 


9 7 129 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


literary character, Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
who was growing old, to come and pass 
his judgment on the luxurious home. As 
they walked through the gardens to- 
gether, Dr. Johnson stopped, and, lean- 
ing upon his cane, said, ‘‘ David! David! 
These are the things that make death 
terrible.’’ So Jesus says to us, ‘*These 
are the things—wealth, ease, luxury, 
pleasure—that make My service difficult 
and irksome to some people.’’ 

It has occurred to me that the practice 
of vice requires the expenditure of a 
great deal of money. Indeed, char- 
acter is revealed by the use we make 
of our money and our leisure moments. 
Tell me how a young man spends his 
money, and where he spends his time, 
and I will tell you what kind of a char- 
acter he is developing. Yes, vice re- 
quires money. Is it drink which entices 
the young man? It means money. Is 
it gambling which fascinates? More 
money. Is it the social vice? Again 
money is necessary. Think of the fabu- 
lous sums expended for luxury and 
frivolity! The expensive apparel and 


130 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


needless ornament, high living, and lav- 
ish outlay to attract public attention. 
All this extravagance has a dire effect 
upon both the individual and society. 
As to the individual, it increases his sen- 
suality, drawing him more and more into 
the maelstrom of vice, until he is finally 
ruined. As to society, it fosters discon- 
tent and breeds anarchy. It is not the 
unequal distribution of wealth, but the 
selfish use of it, which engenders envy 
and hate. 

But possibly the most despicable sort 
of avarice is the miserly sort. ‘‘Av- 
arice,’’ says Channing, ‘‘is a passion 
full of paradox; for although the miser 
is the most mercenary of all beings, yet 
he serves the worst master more faith- 
fully than some Christians serve the 
best, and will take nothing for it. He 
falls down and worships the god of this 
world, but will have neither the world’s 
pomp, vanities, or pleasures for his 
trouble. He begins to accumulate treas- 
ure as a means to happiness, but he soon 
comes to regard it as the end of life. 
He lives poor to die rich. The avarice 


131 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


of the miser may be termed the grand 
sepulcher of all his other passions as 
they successively decay.’’ How often do 
we read of some poor, starved, emaciated 
creature, who has died alone in some 
hovel, with large sums of money about 
his person or premises! 

Thus the spirit of avarice continues 
down to the grave. An English clergy- 
man, kneeling beside a very wealthy man 
as he was dying, asked him to take his 
hand as he prayed. The man refused. 
After the end had come, and they turned 
down the coverlet, the rigid hands were 
found holding the safe key in their 
death-grip. 

It might be well to take a few general 
observations just here. One extreme 
usually calls for another. So we find the 
spirit of socialism abroad to-day. The 
radical social and economic reformers of 
our day are denying the right of private 
ownership. And this doctrine has made 
some progress in recent years, due 
largely to strikes and corporate greed, 
and strengthened by the political success 
of some men who have stood on the 


132 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


municipal ownership platform. Now, 
these socialist reformers point to the 
teaching and example of Jesus for their 
justification. Nauman declares: ‘‘ When 
Jesus says, ‘Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures upon earth,’ He shows Him- 
self the opponent of all accumulation of 
wealth.’? But this is not true. Are all 
people who have laid a little of their 
earnings in stocks and bonds and savings 
banks and business and homes con- 
demned by Jesus? Did Jesus teach it 
as wrong to own anything? [If so, how 
could He command us to give anything? 
You see, the whole argument falls of its 
own weight. The fact is, that Jesus has 
no specific doctrine to distinguish the 
possession of wealth from that of other 
things. Physical life, if abused, becomes 
our own degradation. Intellectual life 
makes him who prostitutes it far worse 
than he who has it not. Precisely so it 
is with the gift of wealth. 

We must not forget that there are 
some things better than money. Love, 
friendship, character are better than 
money. To know that you have the 


133 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


good-will and esteem of the community 
is better than money. It is all right if, 
at the same time, you can make money 
and friends; but it is all wrong if, in 
the making of money, you lose your 
friends. Imagine a man, rich as Cresus, 
living in a palace, attended by a score 
of servants, and yet with not a soul to 
love him. Is such a man rich? No; he 
is despicably poor. The raggedest 
tramp who has the love of some one 
is richer than he. After all, the true 
riches are not in the strong-box, but in 
the heart. It is in the breast, not in the 
bank, that one carries his real fortune. 
Do you really and truly love somebody, 
and does somebody love you? As you 
pass along the street, is somebody glad 
to see you? Do men believe in you and 
trust you? Then, you are not poor, but 
rich. Yes, there are some things better 
than money. Said a prominent New 
York millionaire: ‘‘I see now that in 
accumulating wealth I have lost the best 
things in life. I can not read a book; 
I fall asleep. I can not enjoy a musical 
entertainment; it bores me. I can not 


134 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


travel; the scenery is monotonous.’’ 
Another very rich man said: ‘‘ All I get 
out of my money is my clothing and 
food; and my clothes don’t fit me, and 
my food don’t agree with me.”’ 

But we can secure some of these best 
things in life by a wise use of money. 
Wesley concludes his sermon on money 
by advising his people to give all they 
ean. Very good. But when shall we 
give? After we have heaped up a vast 
hoard of wealth by every connivery and 
chicanery, or while we are honestly gath- 
ering it? Not long ago we were brought 
face to face with the Christian ethics of 
giving, when Mr. Rockefeller made his 
gift of $100,000 to the American Board 
of Foreign Missions. Much was said 
both in favor of and against the ac- 
ceptanece of the gift. Dr. Washing- 
ton Gladden, who opposed the accept- 
ance of the gift, said, among other 
things, ‘‘A man should manifest his re- 
ligion while he is making his money, as 
well as after he has made it.’’ Young 
Mr. Rockefeller, defending his father in 
a speech before Brown University, said: 


135 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


‘«The American Beauty rose ean be pro- 
duced in all its splendor only by sacri- 
ficmg the early buds that grow up 
around it. The rose has one thousand 
buds, and in order to produce the Amer- 
ican Beauty, the gardener goes around 
with a knife and snips 999, in order that 
the strength and beauty may be forced 
into one bloom.’’ Thus, in his economic 
argument, this young man tells the work- 
ing class brutally that 999 small business 
men must be snuffed out of existence in 
order that his American Beauty, the 
trust, may be produced. Can we won- 
der that, after such an argument, when 
a man gives gifts we have no gratitude 
to return? One of the secular papers, 
commenting upon the matter, said, ‘‘ The 
incident has contributed much to the 
gayety of nations, though it has an un- 
fortunate tendency to fill the seats of the 
seornful.”’ 

This is simply a single case taken 
from a hundred like it, and illustrating 
a general principle. If you would avoid 
the destiny of the greedy, avaricious 
soul, cultivate the spirit of liberality. It 


136 


THE GREED FOR GOLD 


may go hard at first, but force yourself 
to it. The rich fool in our Lord’s par- 
able, when his possession increased, 
asked, ‘‘ What shall I do??? Many to- 
day are asking the same question. Allow 
me to answer it. Do all the good you 
can. Relieve distress and want. Sup- 
port the Church and all benevolent insti- 
tutions. Follow this rule, and you will 
find your experience sweetening, your 
hope brightening, and your heart enlarg- 
ing; for you will then have treasure in 
heaven. 


137 


IS THE WORLD GROWING 
BETTER OR WORSE? 


*“Say not thou, What is the cause that the 
former days were better than these? for thou 
dost not enquire wisely concerning this.’’ 

—Ecclesiastes 7: 10. 


T is quite possible that the preced- 
ing chapters of this volume have 


raised the question in the mind of 

the reader, Is the world growing 
better or worse? I shall therefore apply 
myself to the task of dealing with this 
question. There are enthusiasts who 
will answer for both the pessimistic and 
the optimistic sides of this question. 
Hence I shall endeavor to be calm in my 
reasoning and unbiased in my concelu- 
sions. 

If this were an inquiry into the com- 
mercial conditions, educational life, and 
civic progress of the world, the answer 
would be easy. There is no doubt that 


138 


} 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


the world is busier, richer, better housed, 
better fed, better clothed, and probably 
knows more to-day than ever before. 
And for this we are all devoutly thank- 
ful. There is no doubt in the mind of 
every unbiased soul that the world is 
constantly growing ‘‘ better off.’’ 

It is, however, quite a different ques- 
tion whether the world is growing better. 
What is happening to the world, which, 
according to Mr. Gladstone, increased in 
wealth twice as much during the first 
seventy years of the nineteenth century 
as it had during the eighteen hundred 
years preceding? Is this marvelous in- 
crease of goods beneficial or detrimental 
to the characters and souls of the race? 

We reach our conclusions here just as 
we reach them in the individual cases. 
A man’s growth in character does not 
always keep pace with his wealth and 
attainments. Here is a man whose prop- 
erty has grown from nothing to millions. 
But is he in personality better, finer, 
nobler, than when he was poor? Here 
is another, who has achieved world-wide 
fame as a scholar. But can you trust 


139 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


him more implicitly to be fair and true 
and generous than when he was begin- 
ning his career? I am aware that in 
applying these questions to the world, 
positive answers are impossible. How- 
ever, we may apply them, and their an- 
swers will give us a provisional esti- 
mate of the world from the viewpoint 
of goodness. 

Of course, our final conclusions will 
depend on our optimism or pessimism. 
If we are optimistic, we will say: ‘‘Cer- 
tainly the world is growing better. Look 
at the work that is being done to edu- 
cate the people and help them into better 
ways of living. All this effort must 
count for something. The world ean not 
help growing better.’’ But if we are 
pessimistic, we will say: ‘‘Certainly the 
world is growing worse. Look at the 
wickedness in high places, the horrors of 
war, municipal misrule and political cor- 
ruption, the social evils, the warring ele- 
ments of capital and labor, and the in- 
crease of crime. Without doubt the 
world is growing worse.’’ You can 
readily see that both of these answers 


140 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


have some foundation in fact. But there 
is a reasonable optimism. It claims that 
while the world is not as good as it 
should be, still it is better than it used 
to be, and there are fair prospects of 
further improvement. 

Now, there are three factors to be con- 
sidered in our discussion of this subject; 
they are justice, kindness, and temper- 
ance or self-restraint. Is the world 
growing better in this threefold sense? 

Of course, in considering this question 
we must take a very broad and extended 
view. The world, like the individual, 
has its vagaries, its triumphs and de- 
feats, its exaltations and depressions, its 
backslidings and repentances, its recrea- 
tions and revivals. An advance in one 
century may be lost in the next and re- 
gained with interest later. One nation 
may be degenerating while the others 
are improving. The same general con- 
ditions favorable for most men may 
prove very unfavorable for some races. 
Civilization seems to oppress and drive 
some tribes to the point of extinction. 
Liberty is too strong a tonic for some 


141 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


temperaments. But in considering this 
question concerning the moral status of 
the world we are not to allow our eyes 
to be dazzled by any local exceptions or 
temporary recreations. We are to look 
out on the broad field, and trace the 
movement of the human family down to 
the present time. 

Now, what are the facts as to the 
world’s sense of justice? I know there 
is a good deal of pessimism in the 
thought of the general public regarding 
this matter of justice; but this is due 
to a misconception of things. The 
world’s sense of justice is expressed in 
its laws; and I am sure no one ean fail 
to see marked improvement here. There 
is a conscientious effort to make the 
law more efficient in the protection of 
human rights and more just in the pun- 
ishment of crime. 

This is noticeable in the laws pertain- 
ing to women. Not many centuries back 
woman’s existence was merged in that 
of her husband. She was his goods, his 
chattel, his slave. All that belonged to 
her was his. He could beat her, and de- 


142 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


prive her of her children. And not until 
the middle of the nineteenth century did 
the laws of Great Britain and America 
recognize and protect her as a person, 
entitle her to work and receive wages, 
dispose of her own earnings, and have 
equal guardianship with her husband 
over her own children. Since that time 
her mental, civil, and industrial equality 
has become an established fact. Of 
course all this is chiefly noticeable in 
Christian countries; yet we can see 
traces of it elsewhere. There is the abo- 
lition of child-marriage and the practical 
extinction of the suttee in parts of India. 
The decline of foot-binding in China. 
The education of girls in Egypt. All 
these facts indicate that even the heathen 
world is becoming more just to woman. 

Take, again, the laws for the protec- 
tion of the young against cruelty and 
oppression. Since 1833, when the Fac- 
tory Act was passed in England, there 
has been an increasing effort to diminish 
and prevent the enslavement of child- 
hood to labor. Even the parent’s right 
to control must now be in harmony with 


143 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


the rights of the child to life and growth. 
The law itself recognizes the injustice 
of dealing with young offenders as if 
they were old and hardened criminals. 
Juvenile courts and probation officers 
and reformatories constitute an intelli- 
gent and systematic effort to reclaim 
young life before it is hardened in crime. 

You are also aware of the improve- 
ment in our modern criminal law. 
Brutal and degrading methods of ex- 
ecution, such as crucifixion, burying 
alive, impaling, disemboweling, and the 
like, have been abolished. And it be- 
gins to look as though our modern death 
penalty may be abolished, excepting in 
extreme cases. The judicial torture of 
prisoners and unwilling witnesses by 
thumb-screw and rack has been done 
away. And there is a general revulsion 
against our modern ‘‘sweat-box.”’ 

We must also take into our account 
the fact that the world has come to dis- 
criminate between degrees of crime. In 
the eighteenth century men were con- 
demned to death for many different of- 
fenses. At the time of the American 


144 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


Revolution the laws of Pennsylvania 
enumerated no less than twenty differ- 
ent crimes as punishable by death. To- 
day some of the offenses most severely 
punished in olden times have ceased to 
be grounds for prosecution, such as 
heresy, witchcraft, religious non-con- 
formity. On the other hand, practices 
formerly disregarded or unknown have 
been made punishable by law, such as 
the abuse of the liquor selling privilege, 
gambling, food adulteration, selling to- 
bacco to children, the making of combi- 
nations for the restraint of trade, and 
many others. * * * This readjust- 
ment of the law to crime accounts for 
the apparent increase of crime. There 
are more offenders because there are 
more offenses. There is also a greater 
efficiency in the execution of law. But 
in spite of the apparent increase of 
crime, no sensible man believes that the 
actual amount of violence and disorder 
is as great as it used to be. Pike’s 
‘‘History of Crime in England’’ esti- 
mates that in the fourteenth century 
murders were at least sixteen times 


10 / 145 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


more frequent than they are to-day. 
* * * T know there are many items 
to put down on the other side of this 
question, such as delays in legislation, 
irregularities in government, robberies 
and cruelties and embezzlements unpun- 
ished. But these are not new things; 
they are as old as the world; and the 
point I make is that they are much less 
frequent than formerly. I do not pro- 
fess to believe that the world is alto- 
gether just, or as just as it should be; 
but I am quite convinced that it is grow- 
ing more and more just every year. 

Let us now consider the matter of 
human kindness. Here the evidences of 
betterment are even stronger. Indeed, 
the increase of justice is an outgrowth 
of the world’s benevolent spirit. More 
is being done to prevent and relieve 
human suffering, to protect the weak, 
care for the sick, feed the hungry, and 
clothe the naked than ever before. Since 
the middle of the nineteenth century, we 
are told, charity has grown twice as fast 
as wealth in England, and three times 
as fast in France. In the United States 

146 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


the amount of gifts of $5,000 and over 
rose from $25,000,000 in 1893 to $107,- 
000,000 in 1901. The public and private 
charities of New York alone, over and 
above that spent on buildings, are esti- 
mated at $50,000,000 a year. 

And with this increase of gifts comes 
also an increase of thought and care as 
to the best way of dispensing it. Reck- 
less almsgiving has proven to be a most 
foolish form of self-indulgence. We 
throw a dime to a beggar not so much 
to relieve his distress as to ease our 
own conscience. We attend a charity 

ball not so much to help the needy 
as to indulge our own love of pleas- 
ure and display. Hence we are now 
investigating every case of charity. 
Relief funds are entrusted to re- 
sponsible and competent committees, 
who keep books and render an account. 
An excursion steamboat burns in New 
York harbor, and a thousand lives are 
lost. Within two weeks $125,000 is 
given for relief; but it is administered 
by a committee with as much care as 
they would give to their own business. 


147 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


Thus every dollar is accounted for, and 
a balance of $17,000 is left to meet fu- 
ture calls. This is an illustration of in- 
telligent mercy. This benevolence is not 
limited by national boundaries; it has 
leaped all bounds and become interna- 
tional. It has been estimated that since 
the days of Abraham there have been 
three hundred and fifty-three famines in 
various parts of the world. How many 
of those suffering nations, think you, re- 
ceived help from the outside world be- 
fore the beginning of the nineteenth cen- 
tury? Very few, if, indeed, any. But 
now, within a week after a calamity is 
made known, money, food, and help of 
every sort is sent from every quarter. 
The famine in India, 1900-1901, called 
forth contributions from Great Britain, 
Germany, France, and America amount- 
ing to $72,000,000. After the great 
London fire in 1666, and the Lisbon 
earthquake in 1755, there was some out- 
side assistance given, but in the main 
the stricken cities had to suffer alone 
and help themselves. When, however, 
the city of Galveston was swept by flood 


148 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


in 1900, within three weeks $750,000 were 
poured in for relief, and the entire fund 
amounted to nearly $1,500,000. The 
same speedy and substantial help was 
sent to the earthquake sufferers on the 
Pacific Coast a few years ago. And 
very recently the nations hurried their 
contributions for the relief of those dis- 
tressed ones in Sicily. 

In keeping with the humanitarian 
spirit are the efforts being put forth 
to eliminate the horrors of war. The 
Hague Tribunal shows the path of the 
world’s progress toward the peaceful 
settlement of international disputes. 
And each year witnesses some new ad- 
vance in that direction. Since 1903 
seven of the great world-powers have 
made treaties, pledging themselves to 
refer all differences to this Tribunal, 
and at least seven international ques- 
tions have been referred to special arbi- 
trators. True, war has not yet ceased, 
and great armaments are still main- 
tained. The ruler who suggested this 
court was not long ago engaged in a 
bitter war with another power. But in 


149 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


spite of all this, the spirit of mercy has 
been growing. Private war and piracy 
have been abolished. The slaughter, tor- 
ture, and enslavement of prisoners of 
war have given place to a system of 
parole and release. There has been a 
steady advance in the purpose to pro- 
tect the life and property of non-com- 
batants. If you will compare the siege 
of a city a hundred years ago with that 
of Pekin in 1900, you will perceive that 
war itself has felt the restraining hand 
of mercy. Think of the influence of the 
Red Cross Society. In Japan to-day it 
has a service as perfectly organized as 
any of its European or American 
branches. It has a million members, 
and an annual income of more than 
$1,500,000. Thus the spirit of pity and 
compassion has gained much ground 
since the days of Charlemagne and Na- 
poleon—yes, even since the days of 
Libby Prison and Andersonville! 

But what of the third factor? What 
of self-restraint, the willingness to sacri- 
fice one’s own profit and pleasure for 
the good of others? Here we face a real 


150 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


problem. There was a vast improve- 
ment from the fourteenth to the nine- 
teenth centuries. But whether the 
twentieth is carrying on the advance is 
doubtful. Possibly at this point we have 
again a reaction. At least there seems 
to be indications of such reaction. The 
theory of personal liberty is asserting 
itself in dangerous forms. The false 
notion that the highest value of life is 
to be found in intense self-gratification, 
the indulgence of appetite and ambition, 
is being set forth with alarming success. 
Strength is exalted above reason, and 
success is deified as the power to do 
what one likes and pleases. 

Here, then, is a condition we are com- 
pelled to face. On the one hand, there 
is the so-called ‘‘upper class,’’? which 
regards the world as existing for its 
amusement and other men as its serv- 
ants. On the other hand, we have an 
unmistakable increase of the criminal 
class, which lives at war with the social 
order. Corporations and labor unions 
are so fierce in their struggle with each 
other that the rights and interests of the 

nau) 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


community are entirely forgotten by 
both. Lynchings are growing more com- 
mon. Divorces increase to six thousand 
a year. And there is an epidemic of 
shocking accidents, due largely to the 
spirit of unrestraint and recklessness 
which is displaying itself everywhere in 
life. In the midst of it all, would it 
not be wise to inquire the underlying 
cause? The obvious fact is that our 
American youth are allowed to grow up 
with too little moral restraint and too 
little example of self-sacrifice. A few 
years ago Chicago was shocked by a 
series of crimes which were finally 
traced to a gang of boy bandits who 
made the car-barn their rendezvous. 
These boys were the sons of decent 
people. But they seem to have been the 
product of environment more than of 
heredity. They seem to have had a 
fairly equal start with other boys, but 
their vicious character seems to have 
been formed by themselves and their 
surroundings between ten and twenty 
years of age. * * * What sort of 
conditions have we, when average Amer- 


152 


WORLD—BETTER OR WORSE? 


ican youths can achieve such degeneracy 
in so short a time? Boys from decent 
homes spend their life in the streets 
without restraint, resorting to their 
homes as to hotels, for food and shelter; 
while their characters are formed and 
their spiritual life determined in the 
street environment. Surely, here is a 
cease of too much liberty. * * * 
Somehow, in the chaos of transition of 
American life, too many of us are losing 
touch with moral restraint. We have 
carried personal liberty from the world 
of politics and civics into family life 
and the moral world. 

More and more the question forces it- 
self upon us, Is this selfish and head- 
long spirit growing? Will it continue 
to hasten the pace at which men live 
and diminish their power of self-con- 
trol? Will it weaken more and more the 
bonds of reverence, and mutual consid- 
eration, and household fidelity, and civic 
virtue, until our boasted civilization shall 
lapse into the barbarism of luxurious 
pleasure or evolve into the anarchy of 
bloody and social strife? These are 


153 


SIX MODERN DEVILS 


questions that disturb us. How shall 
they be answered? 

I think it is neither wise nor good 
to give them an answer of despair, for 
some very significant facts have been 
established. The world is positively im- 
proving from the standpoint of justice 
and mercy. Thus it possesses two of the 
three elements of goodness. And while 
it seems that the spirit of selfishness and 
lawlessness is growing among us, still I 
believe that in the long run justice and 
mercy will prevail over selfishness and 
passion. One thing is assured: the hope 
of humanity lies in the widening and 
deepening influence of the Christlife. 
And that Christlife teaches us that the 
only way to make the world better is for 
each man and woman to do their best for 
God and fellow-man. 


154 


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a 


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Date 


APR 30 


1137 


Library Burean Cat. no. 


Date Due 


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WA 


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